FOOTNOTES:

[7] By union of anti-Prohibition Republicans with Democrats. Lieutenant Governor and Legislature went Republican.

[8] By union of Democrats, Greenbackers, and Independents.

[9] By fusion of Democrats and Greenbackers.

[10] By combination of Readjusters and Republicans.

[11] Republican, elected for term of one year, beginning May 29, 1883.

FIRST FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.

Cedar Falls.

Tell us who brought forward the first fugitive slave law.

P. G. Klock.

Answer.—In the constitutional convention of 1787 Mr. Pierce Butler, a delegate from South Carolina, moved the adoption of clause 3, section 2, article 4 of the Constitution, which reads: “No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.” The first law to give effect to this constitutional provision was prepared by a committee of the Senate appointed in November, 1792. This committee was composed of Mr. Johnston, of North Carolina; Mr. Cabot, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Read, of Delaware. In December Mr. Johnston reported a bill which was not entirely satisfactory. Mr. Taylor, of Virginia, and Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, were added to the committee. On Jan. 3, 1793, Mr. Johnston reported a bill, which, after several days’ consideration, was passed without a single dissenting voice. On the 4th of February following, this bill passed the House by a vote of 48 to 7. We cannot give the text of it, but it gave slave-masters and their agents summary power to seize, hold, and return fugitives from slavery to their former bondage, whatever laws the States in which they were found might pass to the contrary, the matter being one under jurisdiction of the United States courts.

THE WORLD’S PRINCIPAL TIN MINES.

Altona, Ill.

Where are the principal tin mines, and of what is this metal composed?

Jonathan Trexlar.

Answer.—Pure tin is an elementary metal, as much so as lead, iron, silver, or gold. The principal tin-producing country is England. The Phœnicians traded with England for tin 1,100 years before the Christian era. There is reason to believe that they got tin from Spain also; but England was depended on for nearly all the tin used in Europe until this ore was discovered in Germany in 1240. It was discovered in Northern Africa, in the Barbary States, in 1640; in India in 1740; in New Spain in 1782. Tin was mined in Mexico before the Spanish conquest, and used in T shaped pieces for money, and in a bronze composition for sharp tools; the principal mines being at Tasco. Peru has valuable mines of this metal, so have New South Wales, Australia, and Banca, and Malacca in the Malay peninsula. Tin has been discovered in Pennsylvania, Missouri, California, and other States of the Union, but not in quantities to tempt capital to engage in mining it. The chief tin-producing countries are the following, arranged in the order of importance: England, about 10,000 tons a year; Malacca, about 8,500 tons; Australia, about 6,000 tons; Banca, about 4,000 tons, and Billiton, about 3,000 tons. Both of these last-named places are islands of the Dutch East Indies.

THE ZERO POINT OF THERMOMETERS.

O’Kane, Neb.

Why was not zero on thermometers placed at the freezing point instead of 32 degrees below?

Answer.—Zero is placed at freezing point on some thermometers, although this is not the case on the Fahrenheit scale, the one in common use in England and the United States. When Fahrenheit graded his thermometer he supposed that there was no greater degree of cold than had been observed in Iceland, or discovered by experimenting with freezing mixtures. This point he marked zero; i. e., empty or nought, as denoting the absence of all heat. It is 32 degrees below freezing, and corresponds to the cold produced by a freezing mixture composed of snow and salt, or sal-ammoniac; from which it has been inferred that this was the test used by Fahrenheit, the instrument-maker of Amsterdam, who introduced this scale into common use, and after whom it is named, but who never actually divulged the secret of his process. It is now known that this is an arbitrary point, far above the lowest temperature in the polar regions and several hundred degrees above the greatest cold produced by artificial methods. In the Reaumer thermometer, generally used in Germany, and the Centigrade thermometer, commonly used in France and by scientists of all nations, zero marks the freezing point of distilled water at the sea level, or under an atmospheric pressure of 14.73 pounds to the square inch. To reduce Fahrenheit to Centigrade, subtract 32 and multiply by 100/180, or 5/9. Conversely, to reduce Centigrade to Fahrenheit, multiply by 9/5 and add 32.

THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Riverside, Cal.

I noticed in the Century for December, 1882, page 172, that Chief Justice Rutledge was “President of South Carolina from 1776 to 1778.” What form of government had South Carolina at that time?

J. M. Baher.

Answer.—In 1776 South Carolina, in a Constitutional State Convention, of which John Rutledge was a member, took on the form of an independent republic, and soon after Rutledge was made President and Commander-in-chief of the State forces. He held this office until 1778, when he was succeeded by Rawlins Lownds. The constitution was modified March 19, 1778, and thereafter the chief State executives were known as Governors.

OLD-TIME FALCONRY—HAWK’S BELLS.

Pana, Ill.

In Barnes’ History of the United States, in the narrative of the discovery of Cuba, it is stated the natives bartered their valuables for “hawk’s bells.” Please explain the term “hawk’s bells.”

A Subscriber.

Answer.—Falconry, or hawking, was a favorite sport with the nobility and gentry of Europe down to the first half of the seventeenth century, when the introduction of fowling pieces of a light and elegant pattern and the art of shooting flying gradually replaced it. Hawks were trained to mount and pursue game and bring it to their masters and mistresses, coming and going at the call of the latter with marvelous docility. The hawks were tricked out with gay hoods and held until ordered to pursue “the quarry,” or game, by leathern straps fastened with rings of leather around each leg, just above the talons, and silken cords called “jesses.” To each of these leathern straps, or “bewets,” was attached a small bell, shaped in most cases like the nearly closed sleigh bells of the present time. In a flight of hawks it was often so arranged that the different bells made “a consort of sweet sounds.” Bells of this description, but of the cheapest kind, were among the most popular trinkets used by the early explorers and traders in bartering with the natives of America.

SOURCES OF BRITISH REVENUE.

Sycamore, Ill.

As England receives little or nothing from a tariff, where does the money come from to pay the expenses of the government? Who are taxed and who are not?

R. A. S.

Answer.—It is a mistake to suppose that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland derives “little or no revenue from tariff” or custom dues. The following table shows the sources of the national revenue for the year ending March 31, 1882:

Customs	£19,287,000
Excise	27,240,000
Stamps	12,260,000
Land and house tax	2,725,000
Income tax	9,945,000
Postoffice	7,000,000
Telegraphs	1,630,000
Crown lands	380,000
Interest on advances and Suez Canal shares	1,219,262
Miscellaneous	4,136,019
Total	£85,822,281

Here is the sum of £19,287,000, or almost $100,000,000, received from customs, as against $220,410,730.25 collected from the same source in the United States. 2, The inland revenue, composed of “excise, stamps, and taxes,” is so distributed as to touch pretty much everybody.

KANSAS GOVERNORS AND SENATORS.

Sherman City, Kan.

Please give the names of all the Territorial and State Governors of Kansas, and the names of Senators from the first.

Inquirer.

Answer.—The Territorial Governors of Kansas were A. H. Reeder, 1855; (John L. Dawson, appointed but declined), Wilson Shannon, 1857; John W. Geary, 1856; R. J. Walker, 1857; J. W. Denver, 1858; Samuel Medary, 1858. The following is a full list of the State Governors:

Charles Robinson	1861
Thomas Carney	1861-1864
S. J. Crawford	1864-1869
James M. Harvey	1869-1873
Thomas A. Osborne	1873-1877
George T. Anthony	1877-1879
John P. St. John	1879-1883
George W. Glick	1883-1885

The several Senators in Congress have been or are:

James H. Lane	1861-1866
Samuel C. Pomeroy	1861-1873
E. G. Ross	1866-1871
Alexander Caldwell	1871-1873
Robert Crozier	1873-1874
John J. Ingalls	1873-1885
James M. Harvey	1874-1877
Preston B. Plumb	1877-1883

Senator Caldwell resigned March 24, 1874, during investigation for bribery, in securing his election, and was followed by Robert Crozier, appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy. Senator Crozier was succeeded by James M. Harvey, elected by the Legislature for the remainder of Mr. Caldwell’s full term.

REPUBLICS AND PRESIDENTS.

Barnard, Ill.

Is President the title of the highest officer in every republican government?

Anna Sierle.

Answer.—Yes, unless we take into account the pigmy republics, or semi-republics, of San Marino and Andorra, the former a rough, craggy mountain among the Appenines, with a total area of 21 square miles and a total population of 7,816 persons, and the latter an isolated valley in the Eastern Pyrenees, shut in between the two great, jealous powers, France and Spain, with an area of about 300 square miles, and a population variously estimated at from 4,000 to 12,000. Andorra is governed by “the Sovereign Council” of twenty-four members, which elects one of its members to be Syndic for life, the chief executive of the State. San Marino is governed by “the Sovereign Grand Council,” composed of sixty members, of whom one-third are nobles. There are two heads of this mammoth republic, called, “Captains Regent,” one chosen from the nobles and the other from the “bourgeoisie,” or common people, each holding office for only six months.

THE TAY BRIDGE HORROR.

Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Were there ever any bodies found after the disaster of the great bridge over the Frith of Tay? How long had the bridge been built, what were its dimensions, cost, and particulars of the calamity?

C. N. Warren.

Answer.—The enormous but ill-constructed bridge across the Tay at Dundee, Scotland, was authorized by an act passed in 1870. Work was begun in June, 1871. It was much injured by a gale Feb. 4, 1877, but was pushed forward and declared to be completed Aug. 30, 1877. It was tried on the 25th of the following month, and opened for business on May 31, 1878. Twenty lives were lost in its construction, and it cost £350,000, or about $1,750,000. It was 10,612 feet long, and rested on 85 spans, some of which were 90 feet above low tide. At about 7:15 p. m. on Dec. 28, 1879, less than seventeen months after it was first opened to traffic—while a North British mail train was crossing in the midst of a fierce gale—the structure gave way, leaving a gap of 3,000 feet. The train plunged into the surging sea, and not one of the ill-fated passengers escaped. There were between 75 and 90 persons on board; exactly how many was never ascertained. Forty-six bodies were recovered up to April 27, 1880. After the official inquiry Mr. H. C. Rothery declared that “the bridge had been badly planned, badly constructed, and badly maintained.” A new bridge, of a much more substantial character, is now in process of construction.

CAN A SOLDIER ENTER A HOMESTEAD.

Fort Pembina, D. T.

Can a soldier in the regular army take up a homestead or pre-emption claim, and get some other person to make the improvements required by law on either of said claims? By answering this question you will settle a dispute and greatly oblige,

Henry Brown, Serg’t Co. B, Fifteenth Inf.

Answer.—Soldiers now in the regular army may perform certain preliminary acts relating to homestead entries, but they cannot perfect title to such land until their terms of service have expired. See instructions in “Copp’s Land Owner,” vol. 2, p. 133, and case of Charles Harris, “Land Owner,” vol. 6, p. 190. The soldier or his family must reside on the land at least one year, under any circumstances, before he can acquire title.

POPULATION OF PEKING.

Chicago, Ill.

Please state what is the population of Peking, China, and settle a dispute.

David McGowan.

Answer.—According to the “American Almanac,” which in turn refers to the famous “Bevolkerung der Erde,” of Gotha, edited by Messrs. Behm & Wagner, the population of Peking in 1880 was 500,000. Until within a comparatively recent date the estimates of the population of that city never ranged below 1,000,000. Cyclopedias generally estimated it at 1,500,000, and some of them as high as 2,000,000. Messrs. Behm & Wagner have carefully revised their former statistics of China, and have reduced their estimate of the total population of the country fully 55,000,000. The Almanach de Gotha gives the population of Pekin as uncertain, estimates varying between 500,000 and 1,650,000.

HEBREW NOT A LIVING LANGUAGE.

Rapid City, D. T.

A Jewish gentleman and myself have had an argument, he asserting that Hebrew is a spoken language at the present time. I am of the impression that Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language during the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon, while he declares that he has seen a Jew, directly from Jerusalem, who could talk nothing but Hebrew. Can you give us any light on this subject?

H. H. J.

Answer.—Hebrew, like Latin and classic Greek, is a literary, and not a colloquial language. The precise time when Hebrew ceased to be the living, vernacular language of the Jews is not known. Some learned Hebraists maintain that they lost the living use of the Hebrew during the Babylonish captivity, but the weight of argument is in favor of the belief that they retained the partial use of it for some time after their return to Palestine, and lost it by degrees. No decisive evidence, however, shows exactly when it became a virtually dead language; although there are satisfactory reasons for declaring that it gave place to a corrupted form of the Aramaic language, a mixture of Syrian and Chaldean or Babylonish speech called the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, several hundred years before the Christian era, and that more than a century before this era it ceased to be used even as a written language and was thenceforth studied only as the language of the sacred books, by the learned.

ABANDONMENT OF HOMESTEAD.

Owatonna, Minn.

To settle a dispute, please state whether a person who has “filed” on a quarter section of public land, under the homestead laws, and has let it go back to the government, can make another homestead entry?

Old Subscriber.

Answer.—According to “Copp’s Public Land Laws,” as the law allows but one homestead privilege, “a settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim cannot thereafter make a second entry; but where an entry is canceled as invalid for some reason other than abandonment, and not the wilful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred from entering again, if in other respects entitled, and may be allowed credit for fees and commissions already paid, on a new homestead entry.” Such a claimant must be prepared to show that he did not voluntarily abandon his first entry.

PHARMACY LAWS AND TRAINED DRUGGISTS.

Hodges Park, Ill.

What States have pharmacy laws, and what is the proportion of trained druggists in this country?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—Probably all the States have pharmacy laws; that is, laws regulating the compounding and sale of drugs, but these are loosely administered in most States, the laws themselves being radically defective. Most prescription clerks pick up their knowledge of pharmacy between errands and “by practice,” as it is called, without even an elementary knowledge of chemistry or any systematic course of training. There are in all fourteen schools of pharmacy in the United States; 1 in San Francisco, 1 in Chicago, 1 in Louisville, 1 in New Orleans, 1 in Baltimore, 1 in Boston, 1 in Ann Arbor, Mich., 1 in St. Louis, 2 in New York City, 1 in Cincinnati, 1 in Philadelphia, 1 in Pittsburg, 1 in Nashville, and 1 in Washington. All told, they had only 1,347 students in 1880, of whom they graduated but 186. There are 284 retail drug stores in Chicago, and it is estimated that there are more than 1,600 in the State and about 25,600 such stores in the United States with twice that number of persons compounding medicines; so that it is a clear case that comparatively few druggists and prescription clerks are properly educated for their duties.

AGNOSTICISM.

Arthur, Ill.

Be so good as to define the word “agnosticism,” as used in theological or religio-scientific discourses. I have examined several dictionaries and one encyclopedia, and have failed to find the word.

E. J. A.

Answer.—Agnosticism is a sort of supernatural knownothingism. It is true that this word is not defined in either Webster’s or Worcester’s unabridged dictionaries, except in the supplements to the latest editions, and does not appear in the regular order of subjects in the popular encyclopedias. It is derived from a Greek word that signifies “to know not.” Agnosticism then, as used by Herbert Spencer and his disciples, is the doctrine that, professing ignorance of the supernatural, neither asserts nor denies the existence of a personal Deity, and claims that such doctrine can be neither proved nor disapproved, because of the insufficiency of the evidence furnished by rational and material nature to warrant a positive conclusion: or, as others say, because of the necessary limits of the human mind. Agnosticism is opposed both to the positive assertion of the skeptic, who denies the existence of a personal God, and the opposite declaration of the Christian church, or dogmatic theism, affirming such existence.

PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS.

Give a brief sketch of Ptolemy Philadelphus, a celebrated King of Egypt, often referred to in books and lectures.

F. F. Sloat.

Answer.—He was the son of that able general of Alexander the Great who, after the death of that monarch, became King of Egypt under the title of Ptolemy I. Ptolemy II., surnamed Philadelphus, was distinguished for his love of learning, patronage of men of letters and artists, and encouragement of trade and all the arts of peace. He founded the famous library of Alexandria, the greatest treasury of ancient learning, and through his efforts the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek by seventy eminent Hebrew scholars. This is what is known as the Septuagint version of the Holy Scriptures. He reigned from 285 to 247 B. C., a period in which the Egyptian Kingdom reached the highest point of military glory, prosperity, and wealth.

AN INCUBATOR SUCCESS.

Vesper, N. Y.

For the benefit of readers of The Inter Ocean I will give my experience with an incubator that I built last June, the materials of which cost $5.50. It holds 234 eggs at a hatching. It took me three days to build it. As a test trial, about the 15th of June I placed nine dozen of eggs in the incubator, and in due time I obtained 86 per cent of chicks as the result, which I considered extremely satisfactory. About the 10th of July I made another trial, using this time eleven dozen of eggs, and the result was 87 per cent of chicks. About 6 per cent of the eggs from these two trials which did not hatch were found on examination to be unfertile, leaving 7 per cent with dead chicks in the various stages of maturity. These two trials proved satisfactory, even beyond my most sanguine expectations. On the 15th of January I procured 204 eggs from the farmers, and placed them in the incubator for my third trial, but, owing to the extremely cold weather during the time the eggs were laid, they had become chilled before being gathered, and, as the result, I only succeeded in getting forty chicks, or a little less than 20 per cent. To avoid a second failure, I determined to wait until the cold weather was over before securing eggs for my next hatching.

D. A. Rowland.

NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY.

Santa Barbara, Cal.

How far west of St. Paul are the cars now running on the Northern Pacific Railroad? What is the name of the present western terminus? How many miles are completed from the west end? When is it expected to be completed?

E. S. Sheffield.

Answer.—The company is now running trains with Pullman sleepers and dining-room cars to Livingston, 1,030 miles west of St. Paul. It is also running trains from Portland to Second Crossing, 527 miles. From Livingston to Second Crossing passengers are carried by stage as follows:

From Livingston to Bozeman, 25 miles, 4 hours.

From Bozeman to Helena, 108 miles, 18 hours.

From Helena to Missoula, 130 miles, 22 hours.

From Missoula to Second Crossing, 80 miles, 16 hours.

The total distance from St. Paul to Portland is 1,900 miles, and the time 180 hours. The fare from St. Paul to Missoula by rail and stage is $47.10. The road is to be completed this year.

AMERICAN LITERATI.

Oconto, Mich.

What literary characters has our country produced during this past century?

Carrie Stroud.

Answer.—There is space here to mention only a few of the most prominent American writers of this century. First in poetry stand Bryant, Prentice, Sigourney, Willis, Holmes, Longfellow, Whittier, Morris, and Miller. Among the most conspicuous historians are Irving, Sparks, Lossing, Bancroft, Cooper, Motley, Prescott, Parkman, Parton, Ramsay, and Greeley. Among novelists, Cooper, Irving, Hawthorne, Holland, and Mrs. Stowe hold the front rank, although there is a legion just behind them, some of whom press close upon them. In the field of essayists, literary, political, theological, and metaphysical, the catalogue of noted names is too long to admit of personal designation.

THE ASHTABULA HORROR.

Cottage, Iowa.

Was there anything in the death of Mr. P. P. Bliss in voluntarily remaining with his wife at the time of the railway accident at Ashtabula that justifies the charge that he committed suicide? Give particulars.

M. L. Percival.

Answer.—Mr. P. P. Bliss, the popular composer of sacred lyrics, and evangelistic vocalist, perished at Ashtabula, Ohio, in the terrible railroad disaster consequent on the fall of the Ashtabula bridge on the night of Dec. 29, 1876. Two engines and eleven cars, with about 160 passengers, were precipitated into the creek, seventy feet below. The wreck immediately took fire, and before help could reach the scene more than a hundred persons had perished through the fall or the flames, or were so badly injured that they afterward died. A terrible snowstorm and intense cold added to the sufferings of the survivors. In the midst of this scene of horror and distraction Mr. Bliss and his wife both lost their lives. It is by no means certain that Mr. Bliss could have escaped if he had abandoned his wife. If he could have done so, but perished in the effort to rescue her, such an act was heroic, and none but an idiot would class him with suicides.

STATESMEN AND MARTIAL HEROES.

Oconto, Mich.

Name five of the greatest American statesmen of early times, and as many or more of their greatest successors; also name the principal military and naval heroes of our country, and oblige several readers.

Carrie Stroud.

Answer.—Five of the greatest American statesmen concerned in the founding of this Republic were Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, and John Adams. Seven of the most distinguished successors of these grand men were DeWitt Clinton, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, William H. Seward, Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, and Charles Sumner. Twelve of the ablest generals this country can boast are Washington, Gates, and Green, of the revolutionary war; Jackson and Harrison, of the war of 1812; Scott and Taylor, of the Mexican war, and Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Meade, of the war for the Union. Ten of our greatest naval heroes are Paul Jones, of the revolutionary war; Perry, MacDonough, Porter, Decatur, Hull, Bainbridge, and Chauncey, of the war of 1812, and Farragut and Porter, of the last war.

PUBLIC LANDS IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

Glorieta, N. M.

Is there any government land open to pre-emption or homestead in Washington Territory. If so, is any of it suitable for agricultural purposes?

Montezuma.

Answer.—Out of an estimated area of 44,796,160 acres of public lands in Washington Territory in the beginning, only 17,757,033 acres, or about one-third, had been surveyed up to June 30, 1882, and a considerable part of this third is still open to purchase or entry under the general or special land laws. In Washington Territory, California, Oregon, and Nevada there are great areas of timber and stone lands for sale under the law of June 3, 1878, at $2.50 per acre. The “Desert Lands Act” of March 3, 1877, provides for the sale of certain lands which can be cultivated only by artificial irrigation, at 25 cents an acre. After deducting these tracts, mineral lands, coal lands, and saline lands, there are still millions of acres of lands in Washington Territory subject to pre-emption and entry under the homestead law, and much of this land is well adapted to agriculture and grazing.

OLDEST SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

Parkersburg, Iowa.

1. What was the first European settlement made in the United States, and what was the name of the first child of European parents born in this country? 2. What is the length of the Niagara River, and what large islands are there in it?

Homer L. Forbes.

Answer.—1. The oldest permanent European settlement within the present limits of the United States was made at Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1565. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Captain Francisco de Coronado, and Don Antonio de Espejo, explorers of New Mexico, occupied, temporarily, various points in that region between the years 1540 and 1583. The latter of these took possession of a native pueblo, or town, called Tuoas, or Taos, in the latter year, or thereabouts, and named it La Ciudad de Santa Fe, which was identical in site with the present capital of New Mexico. Forts, colonies, and missions were established in various places in New Mexico by Juan de Ouate, who was sent there for that purpose between 1595 and 1590. The next at Jamestown, Va., in 1607, and the next at Albany, N. Y., in 1614. It is not known who was the first child of European parents born within the United States. 2. The Niagara River is thirty-three miles long. There are no large islands in it except Grand Island and Goat Island, but there are numerous smaller ones.

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

Chicago, Ill.

What was the seat of government during the revolutionary war? Who took the place of President, as head of the government?

Jane Evans.

Answer..—There was no permanent seat of government. The articles of confederation provided that “Congress shall have power to adjourn at any time within the year and to any place within the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months.” When suffered to have its own way Congress sat, during the war, in Philadelphia, but the “red coats” were as keen to go to Congress as the average modern politician, and the patriots, to avoid a row over contested seats, adopted a sort of methodistic itinerancy, minus the method. Congress was in session at Philadelphia in December, 1776, when, seeing that the British were likely to force themselves upon the hospitality of that city, it adjourned to Baltimore. It returned to Philadelphia, but after the American defeat at Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777, it adjourned to Lancaster, and then to York, Pa. From the first session to the last the Continental Congress met as follows: At Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774, and May 10, 1775; at Baltimore, Dec. 20, 1776; at Philadelphia, March 4, 1777; at Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 27, 1777; at York, Pa., Sept. 30, 1777; at Philadelphia, July 2, 1778; at Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783; at Annapolis, Md., Nov. 26, 1783; at Trenton, N. J., Nov. 1, 1784; at New York, Jan. 11, 1785, which continued to be the seat of Congress until the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. There was no executive head of the United States under the articles of confederation. These provided that Congress should have authority to appoint a “Committee of the States,” to consist of one delegate from each State, to sit in the recess of Congress. The President of Congress came the nearest to being an executive chief, but he and the above committee, the “Board of War,” and certain other special committees or boards were each charged with the execution of law according to specific provisions in the act itself. Of these Presidents of the Continental Congress the following shows the names and the time of their election:

Payton Randolph, of Virginia, elected Sept. 5, 1774.

Henry Middleton, of South Carolina, Oct. 22, 1774.

Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, May 10, 1775.

John Hancock, of Massachusetts, May 24, 1775.

Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, Nov. 1, 1777.

John Jay, of New York, Dec. 10, 1778.

Sam Huntington, of Connecticut, Sept. 28, 1779.

Thomas McKean, of Delaware, July 10, 1781.

John Hanson, of Maryland, Nov. 5, 1781.

Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey, Nov. 4, 1782.

Thomas Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 1783.

Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, Nov. 30, 1784.

Nathaniel Gorham, of Massachusetts, June 6, 1786.

Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, Feb. 2, 1787.

Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia, Jan. 22, 1788.

FIVE SUNDAYS IN FEBRUARY.

Chicago, Ill.

In 1880 February had five Sundays. When will this occur again? This question was asked in one of the Chicago dailies recently, and received several different answers, none of which were right, or I am in error.

Inquirer.

Answer.—Usually this event occurs every twenty-eight years, or at the close of each solar cycle of twenty-eight years; but owing to the fact that the year 1900 will not be a leap year (for reasons explained in Our Curiosity Shop not many weeks ago), it will be forty years before February contains five Sundays, or not until the year 1920.

FORMING STATES OUT OF OTHER STATES.

Fairfield, Ill.

Can a State be formed out of part of another State? If not, how was West Virginia organized within the original limits of Virginia?

Byron.

Answer..—Article 4, section 1, clause 1, of the Constitution of the United States declares that “No new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” The erecting of West Virginia into a State was an incident of the late war. While the convention in session at Richmond resolved to take Virginia out of the Union, the Unionists of West Virginia called a convention that assembled at Wheeling May 13, 1861, composed of delegates from twenty-five western counties of the State. This convention passed resolutions denouncing secession and providing for a convention of all the counties of Virginia adhering to the National Government. Delegates representing forty counties convened in Wheeling on June 11, repudiated the acts of the rebel convention, and on June 20 elected Francis H. Pierpont Governor of what they denominated the “reorganized State of Virginia.” A Legislature was elected, which met in Wheeling on July 2. This body elected two United States Senators to take the place of the Virginia Senators which had gone over to the Confederacy. It also provided for an election, to be held on the 24th of the following October, to decide upon the formation of a new State, the eastern part of the State being in possession of the rebels. The people, by a large majority, declared in favor of a new State, and, at the same time, chose delegates to a convention to meet at Wheeling Nov. 24, which convention framed a State Constitution, which was ratified by the people May 3, 1862. May 13 the Legislature—which claimed, it must be remembered, to represent the whole State of Virginia, as it certainly did represent all the loyal part—approved the formation of the new State under the name of West Virginia, and Dec. 31, 1862, provided for its admission to the Union. It was held by distinguished jurists that the government at Richmond having placed itself outside of the Constitution by the treasonable act of secession, the only legal legislative body within the State was the one in session at Wheeling, which consented to the organization of the new State, and that the terms of the Constitution contained in the clause above quoted had been met. When Virginia was reconstructed she was admitted on the understanding that West Virginia was a separate State.

A BRIBE-PROOF PATRIOT.

Havana, Mo.

Who was it who, when the British tried to bribe him, said: “Poor as I am, the King of England is not rich enough to buy me?”

Florence Wyatt.

Answer.—It was General Joseph Reed, a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. When approached by one of three British commissioners, Governor Johnstone, with an offer of £10,000 and the most lucrative office in America, if he would use his influence to reunite the Colonies to Great Britain, he answered: “I am not worth purchasing, but, such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough to buy me!”

MASON AND DIXON’S LINE.

Granger, Mo.

What is Mason and Dixon’s line, and what were the provisions of the Missouri compromise? Who were responsible for its repeal?

R. E. Glover.

Answer.—Mason and Dixon’s line is the concurrent State line of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is named after two eminent astronomers and mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who were sent out from England to run it. They completed the survey between 1763 and 1767, excepting thirty-six miles surveyed in 1782 by Colonel Alex. McLean and Joseph Neville. It is in the latitude of 39 deg. 43 min. 26.3 sec. Missouri was admitted to the Union only after a long protracted and violent discussion, growing out of a provision in the State constitution sanctioning slavery. A compromise was finally effected by which the new State was admitted with slavery, with a solemn agreement that there should be no more slave States formed out of territory north of the parallel of 36 deg. 30 min., the southern boundary of Missouri. In political discussions Mason and Dixon’s line was understood to mean both of the above lines and the Ohio River, or, in other words, the boundary between free and slave territory the country through. When Kansas was thrown open to settlement the Southerners were determined, despite the Missouri compromise, to try to make Kansas a slave State. Their Representatives in Congress, with the exception of a few Whigs, united in favor of a repeal of the compromise. With the help of the Douglas Democrats in the North and several pro-slavery Whigs, they carried their point. The consequence was the bloody struggles between the free-State and pro-slavery men in the early history of Kansas, which was practically the inauguration of the war of the rebellion, although the latter did not burst into full flame until after the election of President Lincoln and the secession of the Southern States.

RATES OF INTEREST COMPARED.

Freeport, Ill.

Please give your readers a comparison of the rates of interest in England and the United States for several years back.

A. Borrower.

Answer.—Of course rates vary greatly in this country with locality. Where opportunities for profitable investment are in excess of capital, as in the Western States, rates are higher than at the great money centers. The following statement of the average rates of interest in New York City for each of the fiscal years from 1874 to 1882, inclusive, is taken from the report of the Comptroller of the Currency:

	Call loans,	Com’l paper,
Years.	per cent.	per cent.
1874	3.8	6.4
1875	3.0	5.8
1876	3.3	5.3
1877	3.0	5.2
1878	4.4	5.1
1879	4.4	4.4
1880	4.9	5.3
1881	3.8	5.0
1882	4.4	5.4

The average rate of discount of the Bank of England for the same years was as follows:

	Per cent.
Year ending Dec. 31, 1874	3.69
Year ending Dec. 31, 1875	3.23
Year ending Dec. 31, 1876	2.61
Year ending Dec. 31, 1877	2.91
Year ending Dec. 31, 1878	3.78
Year ending Dec, 31, 1879	2.50
Year ending Dec. 31, 1880	2.76
Year ending Dec. 31, 1881	3.49
Fiscal year ending June 31, 1882	4.01

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Are there any lady members of either House of Parliament? How many members are there in each House, and what are their titles?

J. A.

Answer.—There are seven peeresses in their own right entitled to seats in the English House of Peers. These are the Baroness Emma Harriet Tyrwhitt; the Baroness Augusta Mary Elizabeth Cavendish-Bentwick; the Baroness Angela Georgiana Burdett-Coutts; the Countess Anne S. Leveson-Gower (Duchess of Sutherland); the Baroness Mary Elizabeth Boscawan; the Baroness Susan North; the Baroness C. E. H. D. Willoughby. Besides the ladies the House of Peers contains in all 509 members, viz.: Six princes of the blood; 3 archbishops; 20 dukes; 18 marquises; 114 earls; 26 viscounts; 24 bishops; 225 barons; 16 Scottish representative peers, elected for each Parliament; 28 Irish representative peers, elected for life. There are also 10 minor peers, who will be entitled to seats when they attain their majority. The House of Commons is composed of 639 members, of which 489 are representatives of counties, universities and towns in England and Wales; 60 are Scottish and 103 Irish representatives. The title of honorable is given to members of the House. Some of them have titles in their own right, as Lord Elcho, Earl Bective, Viscount Galway, Right Honorable Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, and so on.

BONE DUST AS A FERTILIZER.

Almond, Wis.

How are bones treated before being used for fertilizing purposes? For what crops is bone-dust most used, and on what soils?

Subscriber.

Answer.—First, they are generally boiled for the oil and glue or gelatine in them, which do not materially affect their value as fertilizers. They are then ground or crushed, without being previously burned. In this state this fertilizer is known as bone dust, and is sown broadcast at the rate of 50 to 100 pounds to the acre, as a rich manure for pasture, turnips, and small grain lands. In Cheshire, England, where the fine red sandstone loam had become comparatively sterile before the first of this century, through deficiency of phosphoric acid in the soil, caused by constant pasturage in dairy farming, they resorted to the use of calcined bone and bone dust, with the effect of doubling the product the first year. There they often lay on a half ton to a ton to an acre, which serves as a good dressing for sixteen to twenty years. The best way to ascertain whether a soil needs bone dust is to experiment for a year or two with a small plat of ground. The result will determine better than a chemical analysis whether a bone dust dressing will pay.

THE AGE OF SANTA FE.

Atchison, Kan.

Is Santa Fe the oldest of American cities, as the Santa Fe papers claim?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—Cabez de Vaca, a Spanish adventurer, was in New Mexico with his shipwrecked party as early as 1535. General Coronado, with a large military expedition, conquered the Zuni and Moqui towns, or pueblos, in 1540-41, and kept a journal, still in existence, which identifies the regions he overran as undoubtedly a part of this Territory. Don Antonio Espejo left Zacatecas in 1581 according to some authorities, but late in 1582 according to others, and visited what is now Santa Fe County, New Mexico, in July of 1583. He gave a fuller report than had ever been given before of the pueblos of this region, in which he estimated the population of the province of Taos as 40,000. The principal pueblo in this province was Tanos, afterward known as Tegra, and still later as Santa Fe. As an Indian town Santa Fe may be older than any other town in the United States, but as a European settlement St. Augustine, Fla., still carries the palm of antiquity, having been founded in 1565.

JOAQUIN MILLER’S REAL NAME.

Chicago, Ill.

What is “Joaquin” Miller’s real name, and what were the real and assumed names of his divorced wife? The Chicago Herald says his name is Henry F. Miller, which I think is incorrect.

A. Steele.

Answer.—The real name of “Joaquin” Miller, author of the “Songs of the Sierras,” is Cincinnatus Heine Miller. His divorced wife’s maiden name was Minnie Theresa Dyer, and her literary pseudonym was “Minnie Myrtle.” It is said that the name “Joaquin” was given to Mr. Miller by “the boys” in his early California experience, when he was “roughing it,” from a real or fancied resemblance to a noted Spanish highwayman, and he adopted it as a pseudonym.

THE BLACKHAWK WAR.

Battle Creek, Mich.

Who was the commander in the Blackhawk war? State some of the chief facts as to that war.

V. H. Lucas.

Answer.—By a treaty made with certain chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes at St. Louis in 1804, the Indians ceded all their lands in Illinois to the United States for the paltry annuity of $1,000 and goods to the value of $2,234.50. In a treaty made in 1822, covering various matters, a clause was introduced confirming the cession of 1804. Still the government did not demand actual possession of these lands. In 1830, Keokuk, Black Hawk’s rival, negotiated a treaty in which the government recognized him as the head chief of the Sacs and Foxes, and in which he clearly ceded all the lands in question. Black Hawk, who had always opposed any cession of territory to the whites, was not present at this convention, and he and his followers, constituting a minority of the tribe, but really representing the portion most concerned, the actual occupants of the great village at Rock Island, protested against the validity of this and the previous cessions. Black Hawk declared that the treaty of 1804 was made by only four chiefs, that they signed it under the influence of liquor, and had never been authorized by the tribe to cede lands. It was not so easy to explain away the clause in the treaty of 1822, but he characterized it also as a fraud, signed without full understanding of its intent. As to the convention of 1830, he denied the authority of Keokuk’s band to deed away the lands east of the Mississippi.

Returning in April, 1831, from the winter’s hunt in the North, Black Hawk’s band found that their chief’s former friend, an Indian fur-trader at Rock Island, had purchased of the government the ground on which this ancient village stood, in the forks of the Mississippi and Rock River, and with his associate speculators were preparing to cultivate the Indian field of some 700 acres adjoining the village. It seems marvelous that Black Hawk could so far restrain his people as to persuade them to submit to a compromise by which they yielded possession of half this field for the season to the speculators. But the latter were not satisfied, and both parties soon grew irritated. Governor Reynolds, of this State, was asked to interfere. Soon after the militia were called out. On the 7th of June General Gaines, of the regular army, commanding at Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, summoned the Indians to a council, when he commanded them to leave the east side of the Mississippi. Black Hawk refused; but as the State militia, to the number of about 1,600, under command of General Joseph Duncan, drew near, he saw that his few hundred warriors would be overwhelmed, and on June 24, during the night, the Indians deserted their village, which the Americans a few days later utterly destroyed. On June 30, Black Hawk and his party signed a treaty by which for the first time he individually joined in the relinquishment of the lands in dispute. The next winter found him and his band in a destitute, starving condition, owing to their being driven from their cornfields at a season when it was too late to plant elsewhere. In the spring, in defiance of the treaty, he and 368 warriors with their families, crossed the Mississippi and passed up Rock River, to plant corn, as they said, in the Winnebago country, in Southern Wisconsin. General Atkinson, in command of the regular troops at Fort Armstrong, warned them to return. Governor Reynolds again called out the militia, and placed them under command of General Samuel Whiteside. Nothing serious occurred until the 14th of May, when the rash conduct of a party of 275 volunteers under Major Stillman provoked a fight with some sixty of Black Hawk’s warriors, near the mouth of the Kishwaukee a few miles south of Rockford. The whites were panicstricken and fled with the loss of eleven men. So slow had been the movement of the militia that already their time of enlistment had nearly expired, and, not liking this taste of Indian war, they became mutinous, and had to be discharged. General Atkinson could do little with his mere handful of regular troops, so he intrenched his company at Dixon and remained there, while Black Hawk’s followers, re-enforced by a few Winnebago, Ottawa and Pottawatomie braves, roamed over the country committing outrages on defenceless settlers, a number of whom were killed. Affairs grew serious. Governor Reynolds called for 2,000 militia. In July the regulars and militia, all under the chief command of General Atkinson, drove Black Hawk up Rock River and across to the Wisconsin River, where General James D. Henry, the chief hero of this war, in command of a brigade of Illinois militia, overtook him at Wisconsin Heights, and inflicted the first serious punishment the Indians had suffered. Over fifty warriors were killed, and the entire body of them was badly demoralized. Escaping across the Wisconsin with great loss, they fled, leaving their dead and dying, and abandoned articles along their trail. The whole army followed in hot pursuit, and on Aug. 2, General Henry again struck their main force and drove them into the Mississippi at the mouth of the Bad Axe. Here the regulars and the rest of the army joining in, soon cut them to pieces. General Winfield Scott took command five days later, on Aug. 7, 1831, and not long afterwards negotiated a treaty of peace. Black Hawk and two of his sons, with several of his principal warriors, were held as hostages for a time. After detention at Fortress Monroe until June 5 of the next year, he was released. During his captivity he was taken to all the principal cities, where his fate elicited a good deal of sympathy. After his return he lived peaceably with his tribe in Iowa until his death, Oct. 3, 1838, in the 70th year of his age. He was buried at Iowaville, Iowa.

THE BERMUDAS.

Geneseo, Ill.

Please give a concise history of the Bermuda Islands.

Mrs. M. H. Pierce.

Answer.—The Bermudas were discovered successively by Juan Bermudez, a Spaniard, in 1522; Henry May, an Englishman, in 1593: and Sir George Somers in 1609; the discovery in each case being due to the shipwreck of the discoverer. Sir George established the first settlement shortly before his death. In 1612 these islands were granted to 120 persons, an offshoot of the Virginia Company, sixty of whom, led by Henry More, and followed by fugitives from the civil war in England, commenced the cultivation of the soil, which soon yielded rich crops of tobacco. Later the salt lagoons furnished the chief article of commerce. The government consists of a Governor, appointed by the crown, and a privy council of nine members, appointed by the Governor. The House of Assembly is composed of thirty-six members, elected by the people. The acts are revised from time to time, being passed for a limited period.

LIVE QUESTIONS FOR DEBATE.

West Pilot, Iowa.

Will you please give some live questions for debate in a lyceum?

Willie G. Springer.

Answer.—Should an international copyright system be established? Should the government establish postal savings banks? Should literary ability be acknowledged and encouraged in this country, as in England, by grants or pensions from the government? Should the election of President and Vice President be by direct popular vote, instead of through the electoral college?

GIVE FOWLS GOOD FOOD AND EXERCISE.

Nebraska City, Neb.

What is the matter with my fowls? They do not seem to be sick, but they are languid and do not lay or seem to have any ambition.

Amanda.

Answer.—Perhaps it is because they are too closely cooped and have not sufficient exercise. Give them plenty of sunlight; keep them dry; bury a share of their grain in their dusting-place so that they will have to scratch for it; scatter the rest of their food so that they will have to exercise in order to get it and can not eat too fast; give them a variety of dry and cooked food, including cooked meat and vegetables in the morning and grain at night; and the probability is that you will see a marked improvement.

THE SULLIVAN-HANFORD MURDER.

Chicago, Ill.

When did Alexander Sullivan shoot Francis Hanford, the Chicago school principal? When did his trial take place and before what Judge? Was the Judge impeached for his course on that trial? Is it certainly so that this is the same Sullivan who is now at the head of the Irish National League of America? One friend says it is and another says that this latter Sullivan is a New Yorker.

Inquirer.

St. Helena, Neb.

Is the Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago, elected President of the Irish National League, recently organized in Philadelphia, the same man who some years since killed Francis Hanford, the Chicago school principal? Why was that Sullivan acquitted?

John Martin.

Answer.—Alexander Sullivan shot Francis Hanford, Principal of the North Side High School, Chicago, on Aug. 7, 1876, under the following circumstances: In an anonymous paper read that afternoon in the City Council it was charged that Mrs. Alexander Sullivan had procured the appointment of her husband, as Secretary of the Board of Public Works, through undue influence over Mayor Colvin. It was also charged that she was the moving spirit in a corrupt ring that dictated the management of the public schools. Mr. Sullivan was told that the author of this paper was Mr. Hanford. At 7 o’clock that same evening, himself, wife and a younger brother drove up in front of the Hanford residence as that gentleman was sprinkling his grass plat, while Mrs. Hanford sat on the door-step looking on. Sullivan demanded an immediate retraction; after a few words he knocked Mr. Hanford down. A scuffle ensued which ended in Sullivan’s drawing a revolver and shooting Mr. Hanford dead in the presence of his family. He afterward claimed that during the fracas, when Mrs. Sullivan came up to separate them Mr. Hanford had struck her. On the trial the prosecution claimed that if this were so, the blow was not directed or intended for Mrs. Sullivan, but came about in Mr. Hanford’s efforts to protect himself from Sullivan’s attack. The first trial of Sullivan began Oct. 17, 1876, and ended Oct. 27 in a disagreement of the jury. The public was greatly exasperated, and, believing that the disagreement of the jury was due to the rulings and charge of Judge McAllister, there was a loud call made by the most respectable citizens of all classes for his resignation. When the news reached the Board of Trade such a scene was witnessed as seldom occurs in such a place. By unanimous consent all business was suspended. In ten minutes a petition was prepared, asking Judge McAllister to resign at once. In half an hour it had received 500 signatures, and by night there were 1,200 names appended, all of members of the board. The Judge treated this petition and the unanimous condemnation of the press with silent contempt. Sullivan’s second trial opened Feb. 26, 1877, before the same judge, and closed March 9 with a verdict of acquittal. Judge McAllister was never impeached before any legal tribunal; but at the bar of public opinion he suffered the condemnation of the intelligent, order-loving element of the entire country. This Alexander Sullivan is now the President of the newly organized Irish National League of America.

SECURITY OF NATIONAL BANKS.

Downsville, Wis.

Are the notes and deposits of the National Banks well secured? What is the rate of loss suffered through these banks?

S. S. C.

Answer.—The currency issued by National banks is amply secured by the deposit of registered bonds of the United States with the Treasurer of the United States. The Comptroller of the Currency makes frequent inspections of these institutions, and whenever the market value of the bonds thus deposited falls below the amount of the circulation issued for the same, he is authorized to demand additional security in United States bonds or money to the amount of such depreciation. National bank notes are all printed by the government, and furnished to the banks only in such quantities as they are authorized to circulate. As a consequence there can be no over issues. In case of the failure of a bank to redeem its circulating notes, the holders may present them for payment at the Treasury of the United States, where they will be redeemed. The government is protected against loss by holding a first lien on all the assets of such banks. Depositors in cases of failure do not always realize the full amount of their claims, but the history of banking shows no parallel to the excellence of this system in respect of the small proportion of loss suffered by depositors. The loss to all creditors of the United States National banks from the passage of the act of Feb. 25, 1863, to Nov. 1, 1882, amounted to only about $400,000 per annum on an average capital of $450,000,000, and annual deposits averaging $800,000,000, so that the average loss to depositors during a period of nearly twenty years was but one-twentieth of 1 per cent per annum.

GOVERNORS OF IOWA.

Anamosa, Iowa.

Please give a full list of the Governors of this State from the organization of Iowa Territory, with the years that they were in office.

Subscriber.

Answer.—The Territorial Governors of Iowa were:

Robert Lucas	1838-41
John Chambers	1841-46
James Clark	1846-46

Iowa was admitted into the Union as a State Dec. 28, 1846, since when its Governors have been:

Ansel Briggs	1846-50
Stephen Hempstead	1850-54
James W. Grimes	1854-58
Ralph P. Lowe	1858-60
Samuel J. Kirkwood	1860-64
William M. Stone	1864-68
Samuel M. Merrill	1868-72
Cyrus C. Carpenter	1872-76
Samuel J. Kirkwood	1876-78
John H. Gear	1878-82
Buren R. Sherman	1882-

The above does not give the names of the Governors of Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin Territories at the dates when what is now Iowa was attached to those Territories. After Missouri became a State, in 1821, Iowa was left without any civil government. From 1834 to 1836 it was attached to Michigan Territory, then embracing Wisconsin, Stevens T. Mason, Governor. In 1836 Wisconsin Territory was organized, including Iowa, and the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature was actually in session at Burlington, Iowa, when news came from Washington that Iowa had been constituted a separate Territory. Of course there was nothing left for the “Badgers” but to pack their carpet bags and decamp for their own Territory, which they did instanter. Henry Dodge was Governor of Wisconsin while Iowa was joined to it.

STEEL AND STEEL RAILS.

Marion, Ind.

Please explain how steel rails are made.

Alpha.

Answer.—Steel is a carburet of iron, rendered as free as possible of all foreign matter, such as sulphur, phosphorus, etc. It may be produced by working pig iron, which contains 4 or 5 per cent of carbon, in a suitable furnace until the amount of carbon is reduced to about 1 per cent, the average carbon in good steel. This is a decarbonizing process. In the other process, which is directly opposite to this, iron bars, freed of carbon, are heated in contact with charcoal until they have absorbed the necessary per cent of carbon. The steel, in the form of ingots, is brought to a proper heat and welded together in proper quantity to make a rail of given length and weight. This is then rolled into proper shape by immense rollers, grooved so as to give the right shape to the rail. Bessemer steel rails can be cast in molds.

SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS.

Burlington, Iowa.

When and by whom were the States of North and South Carolina settled?

Americus.

Answer.—A company of Huguenots, many of them soldiers and men of rank, with Ribault as their leader, while on an exploring tour, entered a harbor, which they named Port Royal, and being much pleased with the country, thirty were chosen to begin a colony. Their object was to search for gold, but failing to discover any they built a rude ship and put to sea in it. In 1650 a settlement was started upon the Chowan River by emigrants from Virginia and England, which was afterward called Albemarle County Colony, and another settlement near Wilmington, made by planters from Barbadoes, was named Clarendon County Colony. In 1670 a colony settled upon the banks of the Ashley River, but ten years later it removed to the present site of Charleston, S. C. These three colonies were similar in origin and under the same Governor until 1729, when the two Carolinas were erected into distinct provinces.

THE GREATEST OF VALLEYS.

Brighton, Cal.

Is there any valley in the world larger than the Mississippi Valley?

C. C. Harris.

Answer.—The Valley of the Amazon is larger than that of the Mississippi, the former river draining 2,330,000 square miles, the latter 1,244,600 square miles. The Amazon drains a greater area than any other river on the globe.

UNITED STATES MINTS AND ASSAY OFFICES.

Farragut, Iowa.

How many mints are there in the United States, and where are they? What are assay offices, and where are they?

Ada A. Hall.

Answer.—This government has coinage mints in Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Carson City, and a mint at Denver used at present merely as an assay office. This last and the assay offices at Boise City, I. T., Helena, M. T., and Charlotte, N. C., are limited by law to melting and assaying gold and silver bullion and paying for the same from Treasury funds. There is an assay office at New York for the testing of foreign coin or bullion bought by the government to be coined or recoined. All the precious metal purchased for mintage is computed at the value given it at these assay offices. The single letters, O., S., C., etc., stamped under the eagle on American coin indicate where the pieces were minted.

POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENT TOWNSHIPS.

Windsor, Ill.

Is there any difference between political and “government” townships? If so, what is it?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—1. A full township, according to the United States Government land survey, is six miles square and contains thirty-six sections. This is often called a “Congressional township,” sometimes a “government township.” Along the borders of large lakes and navigable rivers, and particularly next to State boundaries, fractional Congressional townships are common. For purposes of township government, fractional townships are in many cases united with adjoining townships, or two full townships may be joined under one town organization. In other cases three or more Congressional townships organize under one or two political town governments, according to the convenience and wishes of a majority of the inhabitants. 2. For an explanation of the United States Government Land Survey, including definition of base lines, ranges, and names and location of all the principal meridians, see Our Curiosity Shop of last year.

INTRODUCTION OF POSTAGE STAMPS.

Hortonville, Wis.

When were postage stamps first used, and by what Nation?

P. G. M.

Answer.—The use of postage stamps, one of the great reforms advocated by Rowland Hill, was introduced into England through his efforts May 6, 1840. They began to be used in this country in 1847.

TIMES THAT TRY MEN’S SOULS.

Rockford, Ill.

Who was the author of the expression, “These are times that try men’s souls?”

E. D. H.

Answer.—Thomas Paine, who professed to believe that men had no souls. During the Revolutionary war, soon after the British captured Philadelphia, and when the cause of independence was shrouded in gloom, Paine, who was certainly one of the most spirited, brilliant, and effective knights of the pen that championed independence, wrote in “The American Crisis,” “These are times that try men’s souls.”

WHO BURNED MOSCOW?

Alma, Wis.

Did Napoleon burn Moscow, or was it burned by the Russians on his approach?

Inquirer.

Answer.—It is not certain that Moscow was set on fire by official order. If so, it was by command of Count Rostoptchin, who claimed that honor after he saw the result, the forced evacuation of the city by Napoleon and the French army, which had taken possession of it on Sept. 14 and 15. Some say that it was fired by Russian fanatics when they knew that Napoleon had taken up his headquarters in the Kremlin, which they regarded as sacred. The French endeavored to extinguish the conflagration, which was ruinous to them, as it was their reliance for winter quarters.

GRADES OF BARLEY.

Oostburgh, Wis.

1. What constitutes the difference in grades of barley? 2. Wherein does the color of barley affect the quality of the grain? 3. How, except to gouge the farmer, did the custom of making fifty pounds of barley for the bushel originate, the legal standard being forty-eight pounds? 4. Are farmers under obligation to conform to board of trade rules, contrary to law?

Quiz.

Answer.—1. The following are the rules governing the State inspection of barley in Chicago: “No. 1 barley shall be plump, bright, clean, and free from other grain. No. 2 barley shall be sound, of healthy color, bright or but slightly stained, not plump enough for No. 1, reasonably clean, and reasonably free from other grain. No. 3 barley shall include slightly shrunken and otherwise slightly damaged barley, not good enough for No. 2. No. 4 barley shall include all barley fit for malting purposes, not good enough for No. 3. No. 5 barley shall include all barley which is badly damaged, or for any cause unfit for malting purposes, except that barley which has been chemically heated shall not be graded at all.” 2. The color of barley is an indication of its age and condition in several respects. 3. The legal bushel by weight is different in different States. In California and Nevada it is 50 pounds; in Wisconsin and most other States it is 48; in Pennsylvania, 47; in Oregon, 46; in Louisiana it is only 32. Boards of trade make rules for themselves, one object being uniformity for the whole country. 4. As a rule, statutes fixing the weight per bushel of various commodities specify that this is to apply only in cases where contracts fail to specify the weight to be given. When grain is sold on ’Change the rules of the board determine the weight to be delivered. Since seller and purchaser are presumed to be acquainted with these rules, it is hard to imagine how either can justly complain of being “gouged.”

HERODOTUS.

Cromwell, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of Herodotus, the father of history.

Frank Smith.

Answer.—Herodotus, called the “Father of History,” was born at Halicarnassus, a Dorian city of Asia Minor, B. C. 484. In his youth he became disgusted with the tyrannical rule of Lygdamis, and abandoned his home for the island of Samos, upon which he acquired the Ionic dialect, which he used in writing his history. After remaining there some time he began his famous travels, visiting Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Babylon, and Northern Africa. Returning to his old home he assisted in the expulsion of Lygdamis and the establishment of a new ruler. The latter, however, became nearly as tyrannical as the former, so that Herodotus again looked abroad for a home. Hearing that a colony was about to leave Athens for Italy, he joined it and settled, B. C. 443, at Thurrii in that peninsula. At that place he lived the remainder of his life, writing the history which has been a lasting monument to his name. It is not known in what year he died; but it is supposed that he lived to be a very old man.

A PENSION QUERY.

Iola, Ill.

Please answer the following: A soldier applies for a pension because of a disease contracted while in the service, but dies of said disease before action is taken by the department, leaving no wife but one child, a daughter, under 16 years of age, who dies before the claim is allowed; who, if anybody, is entitled to the pension?

J. Robinson.

Answer.—Section 4,718 of the Revised Statutes of the United States reads as follows: “If any pensioner has died or shall hereafter die; or if any person entitled to a pension, having an application therefor pending, has died or shall hereafter die, his widow, or if there is no widow, the child or children of such person under the age of 16 years shall be entitled to receive the accrued pension to the date of the death of such person. Such accrued pension shall not be considered as a part of the assets of the estate of deceased nor liable to be applied to the payment of the debts of the said estate in any case whatever, but shall inure to the sole and exclusive benefit of the widow or children; and if no widow or child survive no payment whatsoever of accrued pension shall be allowed, except so much as may be necessary to reimburse the person who bore the expenses of the last sickness and burial of the decedent in cases where he did not have sufficient assets to meet such expenses.” According to Section 4,707 pensions may be granted to relatives who were dependent upon the disabled soldier, but these are limited to the mother, father, or orphan brothers and sisters under 16 years of age, named in the order of precedence.

SPORTING FEATS.

Champaign, Ill.

Please answer the following questions: 1. What is the fastest time in which dashes of 100, 150, and 200 yards and one mile have been made by athletes? 2. What is the greatest record for running long and running high jumps without weights or spring-boards? 3. What is the longest base-ball throw on record? 4. What is the longest foot-ball kick?

Answer.—The fastest time for a dash of 100 yards was made by George Seward, an American, at Hammersmith, England, Sept. 30, 1844, say 9¼ seconds; the fastest 150 yards was run by George Forbes, at Providence, R. I., Dec. 20, 1869, say 15 seconds; the fastest 220-yard dash was run by L. E. Myers, at New York City, Sept. 15, 1881, say 22½ seconds. The fastest mile run on record was made by William Cummings, at Preston, England, May 14, 1881, say 4 minutes 16⅕ seconds. The fastest mile run in this country was made by W. G. George, at New York City, Nov. 11, 1882. 2. The longest running long jump, without artificial aid, was made by J. Lane, at Dublin, Ireland, June 10, 1874, say 23 feet 1½ inches; the greatest running high jump in Great Britain, 6 feet 3¾ inches, was made by P. Davin, at Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland; the greatest in America, 5 feet 11 inches, was made by E. W. Johnston, Belleville, Ont. 3. The longest base ball throw on record was made by John Hatfield, at Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1872, say 133 yards 1 foot 7½ inches. 4. The longest foot-ball “place kick,” with a run, is 187 feet 10 inches, made by R. Young, at Glasgow, Scotland, July 2, 1881.

THE COLOSSEUM.

Lamoni, Iowa.

When was the Colosseum at Rome built, and for what purpose? What were its dimensions; what is its present use, and who owns it?

E. B. T.

Answer.—The Colosseum, or Coliseum, as it is sometimes spelled, was a colossal amphitheater constructed by the Emperors Vespasian and Titus. It was in the form of an oval, the longer diameter being 612 feet, the shorter diameter 515 feet, and the height of the walls from 160 to 180 feet. It contained seats for 87,000 persons, and standing room for 15,000 more. The arena, or oval in the center, where the gladiators fought and the deadly conflicts with wild beasts took place, was 281 feet by 176. The walls were of marble, the external face consisting of four stages, or offsets, adorned with engaged columns of the three orders of Grecian architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The lowest three were arcaded, having each eighty columns and as many arches. Statues, sculptures, figures of chariots, metal shields, and other embellishments adorned the niches and salient points. What was the internal structure of this vast building is not fully understood. The tiers of seats above referred to only rose to one-half the height of the stupendous walls. Whether there were hanging galleries above these marble seats is now only a matter of conjecture. Over 2,000 wild beasts were killed in the dedicatory service. There were means by which, when the combats were ended, the immense arena could be filled with water for the exhibition of sea fights. During the various persecutions of the early Christians, many of these were thrown to the wild beasts in this amphitheater. One of the first of these was St. Ignatius, who was torn to pieces by lions. In the sixth century, when Christianity gained the ascendency, the church put an end to the use of the Colosseum. It still stood entire in the eighth century, but subsequently large quantities of the marble was used in the construction of public and private buildings. Pope Benedict XIV., in commemoration of the martyrs who had suffered within its walls, consecrated the Colosseum as a monument to them, erected crosses and oratorios within it, and so put an end to the process of destruction. Ever since it has been regarded as sacred to the martyrs and subject to the church.

WARMING ARCTIC DWELLINGS.

Johnsonville, Ill.

Do inhabitants of the Arctic regions use fire as a means of heating their ice or snow-block houses, and for cooking? If so, what kind of fuel do they use?

H. E. T.

Answer.—The ordinary means of lighting and warming Esquimaux igloos, or winter huts, is a large basin of oil furnished with moss wick. These basins are scolloped from soapstone or similar material. The oil is the product of the whale, seal, or other fish, or of the white bear, but usually the former. Igloos are huts usually a half or more underground, and finished above ground with stones, bones, turf, and moss, and finally with ice and snow. Sometimes they are constructed of blocks of ice and compact snow, with transparent ice windows. The igloo is reached by a long tunnel-like entrance, is unventilated, and soon after the great lamp is lit the heat from this and the warmth from the bodies of the inmates render the mephitic air almost suffocating. These people, generally, eat their food raw or but half cooked.

GOTHAM.

Chicago, Ill.

Why is New York City called “Gotham?” What is the origin and meaning of Gotham?

J. C. Starr.

Answer.—In “Salmagundi,” a humorous work written by Washington Irving, his brother William, and James K. Paulding, this name is applied to New York, to suit the purpose of the authors in representing the inhabitants as given to undue pretensions to wisdom. Of course, the allusion is to the inhabitants of Gotham, a parish in Nottinghamshire, England, who were as remarkable for their stupidity as for their conceit. All the follies of English wiseacres were attributed to them. Fuller says: “The proverb of ‘as wise as a man of Gotham’ passeth publicly for the periphrasis of a fool; and a hundred fopperies are forged and fathered on the townsfolk of Gotham.” It was said that when King John was about to pass through Gotham toward Nottingham he was prevented by the inhabitants, who thought that the ground over which a king passed became forever a public road. When the King sent to punish them they resorted to an expedient to avert their sovereign’s wrath. According to this, when the avengers arrived they found the people each engaged in some foolish occupation or other, so that the King’s messengers returned to court and reported that Gotham was a village of fools. In time a book appeared, entitled “Certain Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gotham,” compiled in the reign of Henry VIII., by Andrew Borde, a sort of traveling quack, from whom the occupation of the “Merry Andrew” is said to be derived. Among these tales is the story of “The Three Wise Men of Gotham,” who went to sea in a bowl. The book had a wonderful sale. Walpole attributed it to Lucas de Heere, a Flemish painter, resident in England in the time of Queen Elizabeth, but the weight of evidence is in favor of Borde’s being the author, or compiler, it being mostly a compilation of popular legends even then from four to five hundred years old.

ST. PETER’S AND COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.

Fox Lake, Wis.

Which is larger, St. Peter’s Cathedral or the cathedral at Cologne? Please give the dimensions of both.

Ella Lyle.

Answer.—The dimensions of St. Peter’s at Rome, the largest cathedral in the world, are as follows: Length of the interior, 613½ English feet; of transept, 446½ feet; height of nave, 152½ feet; and the diameter of cupola, 193 feet. The height of the dome from the pavement to the top of the cross is 448 feet. Cologne cathedral is 511 feet long, and 231 feet broad. The towers are 511 feet high. This famous building, founded by Archbishop Conrad, designed by Architect Gerhard von Riehl, and commenced Aug. 15, 1248, was not completed until Aug. 14, 1880. It was solemnly opened with august ceremonies, Oct. 15, of the same year.

ORIGIN OF CHESS.

Farmington, Minn.

Please state the origin of the game of chess.

O. H. Baker.

Answer.—Chess is such an ancient game that its origin is unknown. Many of the most learned Oriental scholars have written upon the subject, appealing to history and philology to support their theories. It has been ascribed to a Chinese mandarin by the name of Han-Sing, who, it is said, invented it as an amusement for his soldiers when in winter quarters, about 174 B. C. They call it “the play of the science of war.” Sir William Jones, the great Sanscrit scholar, claimed that Hindu traditions, the names of the pieces, and other particulars indicate that chess was played in India in the earliest times. He writes that a learned Brahmin assured him that it was mentioned in several of the oldest books of India, where it was declared that it was invented by the wife of one of the most ancient kings of Ceylon to amuse that monarch while Rama was besieging his metropolis. This, by their reckoning, was 2,000 to 3,000 years before the commencement of our era. On the other hand, several later scholars of Sanscrit think it was invented in India by Buddhists some time between the third and ninth centuries, A. D., a theory inconsistent with the unwarlike nature of Buddhism and the fact that the Hindu name of the game, “chaturanga,” is a military name, signifying the game of armies, corresponding with the Chinese name for chess, given above. Others have ascribed this game to the Babylonians, Persians, Scythians, Egyptians, Jews, Greeks, or Romans, according to their several theories, but the weight of evidence is in favor of its being of Indian or Chinese origin, and this is now the generally accepted belief.

STATE SECRETARIES.

Chicago, Ill.

Oblige us with a list of the names of Secretaries of State for the principal Western States.

Answer.—Since the names of the Secretaries of State for Texas, Oregon, and Washington Territory are called for by another correspondent, and such information is not within convenient reach of most persons, we give below a full list of Secretaries of all the States and Territories. Persons wishing information in regard to State inducements to immigration, State resources, taxation, etc., can usually obtain it by writing to the Secretary of State, who will transmit the question to the proper officer for the reply called for.

Alabama—Ellis Phelan.
Arkansas—Jacob Frolich.
California—T. L. Thompson.
Colorado—Melvin Edwards.
Connecticut—D. Ward Northrop.
Delaware—William F. Cansey.
Florida—John L. Crawford.
Georgia—N. C. Barrett.
Illinois—Henry D. Dement.
Indiana—William R. Meyers.
Iowa—John A. T. Hull.
Kansas—James Smith.
Kentucky—James Blackburn.
Louisiana—William A. Strong.
Maine—Joseph O. Smith.
Maryland—James T. Briscoe.
Massachusetts—Henry B. Pierce.
Michigan—Henry A. Conant.
Minnesota—F. Von Baumbach.
Mississippi—Henry C. Meyers.
Missouri—Michael K. McGrath.
Nebraska—Edward P. Roggen.
Nevada—J. M. Dormer.
New Hampshire—A. B. Thompson.
New Jersey—Henry C. Kelsey.
New York—Joseph B. Carr.
North Carolina—Wm. L. Saunders.
Ohio—Sames W. Newman.
Oregon—R. P. Earhart.
Pennsylvania—Wm. S. Stenger.
Rhode Island—J. M. Addeman.
South Carolina—R. M. Sims.
Tennessee— ——.
Texas—Thomas H. Bowman.
Vermont—George Nichols.
Virginia—Wm. C. Elam.
West Virginia—Randolph Stalkner, Jr.
Wisconsin—Ernst G. Trimme.
Arizona—George H. Hand.
Idaho—Thomas F. Singiser.
Montana—L. D. McCutcheon.
New Mexico—Wm. G. Ritch.
Utah—Arthur L. Thomas.
Washington—N. H. Owings.
Wyoming—Elliott S. N. Morgan.

CONGRESSMEN-AT-LARGE.

Newton, Iowa.

Explain what is to be understood by “Congressmen-at-large.”

Inquirer.

Answer.—The act of Congress of February, 1882, provided for a reapportionment of the membership of the House of Representatives, based on the census of 1880, provided that in the cases of States entitled under this apportionment to additional representation, the additional members in the Forty-eighth Congress might be elected on a general State ticket; also, that in all cases where the number of representatives was reduced, as in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the whole number for such State should be elected at large, “unless the Legislatures of said States have provided or shall provide before the time fixed by law for the next election of Representatives therein.” Kansas, for example, which is entitled by this act to four additional representatives, did not redistrict before the last Congressional election, and so she elected four Congressmen at large, viz., Edmund W. Morrill, Lewis Hanback, Samuel R. Peters, and Bishop W. Perkins. Maine did not redistrict, so all her representatives were elected at large, instead of by districts.

CONTESTANTS OF SEATS IN CONGRESS.

Bloomington, Iowa.

To settle a dispute between me and a Greenbacker, who claims that when a seat is contested in Congress the contestant doesn’t draw any pay if he fails to get the seat, except his expenses, while I contend that both draw pay until the contest is decided, state which is right.

John Taylor.

Answer.—Section 2 of chapter 182 of “Supplement to the Revised Statutes of the United States,” par. 15, says: “That hereafter no contestee or contestant for a seat in the House of Representatives shall be paid exceeding $2,000 for expenses in election contests; and before any sum whatever shall be paid to a contestant or contestee for expenses of election contests he shall file with the clerk of the Committee on Elections a full and detailed account of his expenses, accompanied by the vouchers and receipts of each item, which shall be sworn to by the party presenting the same.” Nevertheless it is customary for Congress to vote compensation to contestants by appropriations in the nature of “relief bills,” where each case is presumed to stand on its own merits.

BALLOONS AND THEIR PERFORMANCES.

Auburn, D. T.

Please give some facts as to the capacity of balloons; what is used to fill them, and what are some of the greatest balloon performances?

L. J. Swartz.

Answer.—The buoyancy of a balloon depends on the weight of the gas with which it is inflated compared with the weight of common air, bulk for bulk. Hydrogen is the lightest of all known substances. A cubic foot of atmospheric air at a temperature of 34 degrees weighs 527.04 troy grains, while a cubic foot of hydrogen is about fourteen and a half times lighter than this. Coal gas is about two and a half times lighter than air. If a balloon would contain 1,000 pounds of atmospheric air at temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit, but filled with coal gas would weigh, all told—covering, gas, and appendages—600 pounds, it would rise with a force equal to the difference of these two numbers, or 400 pounds. Mr. Glaisher, not long since, constructed a balloon containing 90,000 cubic feet of coal gas, that carried 600 pounds, and rose to the unsurpassed height of 7½ miles, where the barometer, which stands at about 30 at sea level, sank to only 7 inches, showing an atmosphere of only about 22 per cent of the weight at sea level. The longest balloon trip on record is that of the late Professor J. Wise and Mr. La Mountain. Starting from St. Louis for New York City, they traveled 1,150 miles in a little less than twenty hours, when, being caught in a contrary current, they were compelled to desist. Mr. Lowe’s mammoth balloon was said to contain 700,000 cubic feet of coal gas and have a lifting power of 22½ tons; but it was badly constructed and accomplished nothing remarkable. In some 10,000 recorded ascents made since the Montgolfiers invented their famous balloons, just 100 years ago this year, there have been but fifteen deaths among 1,500 aeronauts; which indicates less danger in this business than is generally supposed.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

Ferry, Mich.

1. Give a short biography of Jefferson Davis.

G. F. Page.

Answer.—Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky in 1808; first became prominent in politics as a member of the House of Representatives, and later as Senator from Mississippi. He served in the Mexican war, having been educated at West Point. During President Pierce’s administration Davis was Secretary of War, and was said to rule both President and Cabinet. In 1857 he was returned to the Senate, where he remained until chosen President of the Confederacy in 1861. This office he held for four years. In 1865, after the fall of Richmond, Davis was captured and imprisoned in Fortress Monroe for two years; was released on bail in 1867, and finally liberated by the general amnesty, Dec. 25, 1868. He is still disqualified from holding any office of honor or emolument under the General Government.

GOVERNMENT PUBLIC LAND SALES.

Sheldon, Iowa.

I have heard on good authority of the sale, by officers of public land offices, of timber claims at public auction to the highest bidder for cash. Is there any authority of law for such a proceeding?

C. H. Cottle.

Answer.—Where large bodies of land are to be sold, a proclamation is issued in the name of the President, describing the tracts, and specifying the time and place of sale. When only a few isolated tracts of land, not embraced in the regular proclamations, are to be disposed of, notice is given in a local newspaper. The land is then sold to the highest bidder for cash only. Purchasers are not compelled to reside on or cultivate such lands. As the present policy of the government is to encourage pre-emption and homestead settlement and timber culture there are now few public land sales. Lands that have been offered at public sale but not sold may be bought at any time thereafter at the local land office if not withdrawn from market. This is called a private sale or entry.

MAGGIE MITCHELL.

Vicksburg, Mich.

Please give a short biography of Maggie Mitchell. What is her present age?

S. C. Van Antwerp.

Answer.—Maggie Mitchell, one of the best-known of American actresses, was born in New York City in 1832 of Scotch parents, in very humble circumstances. When very young she was employed in simple child parts in the old Bowery Theater, for a pittance, which went to help support the family. When not more than 19 years of age, she had advanced to playing parts of some importance, and about this time, 1851, she made her first appearance at Burton’s Theater as Julia, in the “Soldier’s Daughter,” which was her first capital success. Soon after this she went on a “starring tour” that proved profitable and widely extended her reputation. She made her first appearance in Philadelphia at the Chestnut Street Theater on March 20, 1854, as Constance in “The Love Chase.” Up to 1862 Miss Mitchell was content to appear in amusing characters, earning the reputation of a clever comedienne, but about this time she got hold of a clumsy, heavy dramatization of George Sand’s popular novelette, “La Petite Fadette.” She applied herself to the animating and popularizing of this play, and the result is her now famous drama “Fanchon,” many of the most charming and pathetic parts being entirely of her own creation. Since June 9, 1862, when she first produced “Fanchon” on the stage at Laura Keene’s Theater, New York, it has maintained a living interest which never fails to draw a house. Other plays of her composition or dramatization have followed, including “Jane Eyre,” “The Pearl of Savoy,” and “Mignon,” a stage rendering of an episode in Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meister,” but none have equaled, in popular esteem, Fanchon. Miss Mitchell was married Oct. 15, 1868, to Henry Paddock, of Cleveland, her present popular stage manager. Although she is now 51 years of age, she impersonates the girlish characters of her repertory with all the sprightliness and youthful vivacity that won the hearts of her auditors twenty years ago.

ARCHBISHOP LAUD—WHY BEHEADED.

Please give an account of the life, character, and death of Archbishop Laud.

C. P. B.

Answer.—William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, the son of a Berkshire clothier, was born in 1573. He was ordained priest in 1601, and became vicar of Stanford in 1607. From this position he rose rapidly in power, by his executive ability and manifestation of hatred of Puritanism, until in 1628 he was appointed Bishop of London. Early in his career he had won the favor of the King, who thought he saw in him a powerful advocate of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, though Laud was really more interested in maintaining the divine right of Episcopacy. In 1617 he attempted, with the aid of King James, to establish the Episcopacy in Scotland, but in vain. In 1630 he was made Chancellor of Oxford, the center of high-church loyalty, and, according to the wish of his sovereign, attempted to repress Puritanism by slitting noses, clipping ears, fines, branding, and imprisonment. In the high-commission and star-chamber courts his power was almost absolute. But gradually he won the bitterest hatred of the English people, until in March, 1640, seven years after his appointment to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, he was imprisoned in the Tower by order of the House of Commons. He was brought to trial in the House of Lords, Nov. 13, 1693, on charge of treason and other crimes, of which they acquitted him; but they soon afterward gave their assent to the ordinance for his execution, passed by the Commons. He had lived until the Puritans, whom he had despised and persecuted, had come into power, he had made the Scots his implacable foes, and nothing less than his blood would satisfy them. Despite of a royal pardon, by an act of arbitrary power on the part of Parliament, overriding all constitutional precedents, he was beheaded Jan. 10, 1644.

VICTORIA’S CHILDREN AND CHILDREN-IN-LAW.

Battle Creek, Mich.

Please name Queen Victoria’s children and their husbands and wives, and stations in life.

Belle Shipman.

Answer.—The eldest child of Queen Victoria is Victoria Adelaide Maria Louise, Princess Royal, married to the Crown Prince, Frederick William, of Germany, Jan. 25, 1858. Her eldest son, the second child, is the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, heir-apparent to the throne; married to the Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of the King of Denmark, March 10, 1863. Her third child was Alice Maud Mary, married to Louis IV., Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, July 1, 1862; died Nov. 15, 1878. Her fourth child is Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh, married Jan. 23, 1874, to the Grand Duchess Maria of Russia. Her fifth is Helena Augusta Victoria, married July 5, 1866, to Prince Frederick Christian, of Schleswig-Holstein. Her sixth is Louise Caroline Alberta, married March 21, 1871, to John, Marquis of Lorne, present Governor General of Canada. Her seventh is Arthur William Patrick Albert, Duke of Connaught, married March 13, 1879, to Princess Louise Margaret, daughter of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. Her eighth is Leopold George Duncan Albert, Duke of Albany, married April 27, 1882, to the Princess Helen, daughter of the Prince of Waldeck. Her ninth is Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodora, still unmarried. We are not prepared to publish their pictures.

ROUTE TO SINALOA, MEXICO.

Baldwin, La.

What is the route from here to Sinaloa, Mexico? Is the Northern part of that State good for the culture of sugar cane? To what market would one ship from there?

M. D. G.

Answer.—The most direct route from New Orleans would be via the Southern Pacific and Sonora Railways to Guaymas, 353 miles southwest of Benson, on the Southern Pacific, where one can take steamer about the 15th or 16th of each month for Mazatlan, the principal port of Sinaloa, on the Gulf of California. Sugar cane, oranges, figs, and other semi-tropical and tropical fruits flourish in Sinaloa; particularly in the Valley of the Rio del Fuerte. Mazatlan furnishes a market for the products of the country, or one can ship to San Francisco or New York direct, via the California and Panama steamers.

FUSIBILITY OF ALLOYS.

Hudson, M. T.

Why does it takes a hotter fire to melt pewter than lead?

J. B. L.

Answer.—Pewter is an alloy, composed of tin and lead, sometimes with a little copper or antimony or bismuth, combined in different proportions, according to the purposes it is to serve. Plateware, which has a bright, silvery luster when polished, is composed of 100 parts of tin, 8 parts of antimony, 2 parts of bismuth, and 2 of copper. Brittannia ware is said to be an alloy of equal parts of brass, tin, antimony, and bismuth. Now it is characteristic of alloys that they are always more easily fusible than the least fusible metal entering into their composition, and some of them, strange to say, are more fusible than the least fusible of their constituents. For instance, although bismuth alone requires a heat of 476 degrees Fahrenheit to fuse it, lead 600 degrees, and tin 442 degrees, an alloy of these metals composed of five or eight parts of bismuth, two or five parts of lead, and three of tin, melts at 198 to 200 degrees; and an alloy of sodium composed of sodium and potassium in certain proportions melts at 80 degrees, although sodium alone requires 194 degrees and potassium 124 degrees to fuse them. The explanation is not fully determined, but it is to be found in the laws of chemical affinity. Different metals expand at different rates in the same degree of heat, which tends to separate the atoms; and electrical currents are produced which magnify the heat applied externally.

AUTHOR OF SCHONBERG-COTTA FAMILY.

Lake City, Iowa.

Who is the author of “Schonberg-Cotta Family?” Give a short sketch of the same, and tell the correct pronunciation of Schonberg-Cotta.

Aggie.

Answer.—The authoress of “Schonberg-Cotta Family” is Mrs. Elizabeth Rundle Charles, only child of the late Hon. John Rundle, member of Parliament for Tavistock. She was born about 1826; received a liberal English education; was encouraged in literary work by her father; and has written a number of works of fiction of high moral tone, including the two historical fictions “Schonberg-Cotta Family” and the “Diary of Kitty Trevylyan,” intended to recall the early struggles of the two great reformers, Luther and Wesley. Among her other works are “The Martyrs of Spain and Liberators of Holland.” It is almost impossible to denote the German pronunciation of “o” in Schonberg without oral illustrations. Webster says that to utter this sound one must place the organs in the position for o long and then try to utter the sound of e in met. All the other syllables in the compound word, Schonberg-Cotta, are to be pronounced nearly as in English, except that the e in berg is almost like a long.

GOLD AND SILVER IN THE SEA.

Peoria, Ill.

Is the expression, “There is gold in the sea,” only a poetic fiction or is it true? As a friend says that there is gold and silver in some kinds of sea water?

A Constant Reader.

Answer.—Sea water is impregnated with certain chemical salts, including chlorides, sulphates, bromides, iodides, and carbonates, some of which have the power of dissolving gold and silver or holding them in solution. The chemist Sonstadt has recently shown that sea water contains nearly one grain of gold to the ton of water, held in solution by iodide of calcium; and it has been known for some years that the old copper stripped from the bottoms of ships is often so rich in silver taken from the sea that it pays a profit on the cost of smelting it. It is estimated that the ocean holds in solution at least 2,000,000 tons of silver. Assuming this to be the metric ton of 2,204.6 pounds, the above total is equivalent in weight to 77,448,000,000 American standard dollars—nearly seven times the total silver product of the world from the earliest times to the close of 1879, or $11,315,000, as estimated by that eminent statistician, the Russian councillor, Otreschkoff. A large discount might be made from these estimates, and yet there would be enough left, aside from all the treasures of sunken Spanish galleons and oriental argosies, to demonstrate that the saying, “There is gold in the sea,” is not merely a poetic fancy.

FRENCH POOLS—PARIS MUTUALS.

Chicago, Ill.

Kindly explain “French pools,” or “Paris mutuals,” as used in horse-racing circles.

R. L. K.

Answer.—“French pools” are sometimes called “Paris mutuals.” This system of betting consists of selling tickets on each horse at a certain price. On the race-courses of this country the “mutuals” are $5 each. When the race is started the tickets are all added up in one large pool, and those who hold tickets on the winning horse divide the total pool, less 5 per cent to the pool-seller. For example, in a Paris mutual, tickets in the pool were sold as follows:

Horse.	Tickets.	Price.	Total.
No. 1	10	$5	$50.00
No. 2	9	5	45.00
No. 3	4	5	20.00
No. 4	7	5	35.00
No. 5	8	5	40.00
Total			$190.00
Less 5 per cent			9.50
Net amount for winners			$180.50

Here there is a net amount of $180.50 to be divided equally between holders of tickets on the winning horse. In this case, if horse No. 3 wins, each of the four ticket-holders receives $45.12.

THE WIVES OF COLUMBUS.

Cortland, N. Y.

When was Columbus married and whom did he marry?

B. S.

Answer.—Christopher Columbus was twice married. His first wife was Felipa Munnis Perestrelle, daughter of an able Captain of Prince Henry of Portugal, called the “Navigator.” He married her in 1471. His father-in-law’s charts, globes, etc., helped to mature his plans of discovery. Diego, who accompanied his father on the occasion when they were reduced to such straits that Columbus begged at the monastery of La Rabida for bread and water for the child, was the only issue of this marriage. This wife died in 1483 or thereabout. He next married Beatriz Enriquez, at Cordova, in 1487. She was the mother of his second son, Fernando Columbus, who in time became his father’s biographer.

POSTAGE ON MANUSCRIPT.

Cooksville, Wis.

What is the postage rate on manuscript for books or newspapers?

Inquirer.

Answer.—Ruling 264, page 683 of the Postal Guide for 1883 says: “All manuscript matter designed for publication in books, magazines, periodicals, or newspapers is subject to letter postage, unless accompanied by proof-sheets or corrected proof-sheets of such manuscript, or of which such manuscript is a correction or addition.” Ruling 508, page 711, says: “‘Book manuscript’ is a term no longer used in the postal law. Manuscript accompanied by proof-sheets, and corrected proof-sheets relating to it, may pass in the mails as third-class matter in unsealed packages.” The rate for third-class matter is “1 cent for each two ounces or fractional part thereof.”

PERPETUAL ALMANACS.

Bloomington, Ill.

Please give a rule for finding the day of the week on which any historical event occurred when only the day of the month is given.

Chronologist.

Answer.—This is too much like a question in arithmetic for these columns, from which all arithmetical problems are ruled out. Several distinct classes of questions might come up under “Chronologist’s” query. One of the first considerations is to determine whether the historical date is given in “old style” reckoning or “new style,” as a separate rule must be applied in each of these cases. Another rule applies to dates before the Christian era. Leap years are taken into account in all these rules. Every example involves an arithmetical computation. There are “perpetual almanacs” that contain tables and rules for all such computations. There is a chart published in this city entitled “Almanac for All Time, Past and Future,” which answers all queries of this nature.

CHICAGO FLOWER MISSION.

Canton, Ill.

What is the Flower Mission of Chicago? State the nature of its work, and how to reach it by letter or express.

Mrs. J. D.

Answer.—The object of the Chicago Flower Mission is to collect and distribute flowers among the charitable institutions of the city; chiefly through the wards of hospitals. The influence of these cheery tokens of loving sympathy is believed to be most wholesome. The condition of the mind has, in most cases of disease, a great effect on the body. Nothing does more to recuperate the sick than a hopeful, cheerful spirit, and a lively love of life and earnest wish to recover. Flowers and their associations are delightful reminders of the world in its fairest phases, and woo the sick back to life with a tender eloquence akin to love. Letters or offerings of flowers addressed to the “President of the Chicago Flower Mission, Atheneum Building, Chicago,” will reach the mission.

LAND ENTRIES BY MARRIED WOMEN.

Rochelle, Ill.

Please tell whether a married woman can take up government land in place of her husband, and oblige at least one of your readers,

C. A. Reynolds.

Answer.—Under the pre-emption laws, which restrict the pre-emption privilege to heads of families, widows, or single persons over the age of 21, who are citizens of the United States or who have declared their intention to become such, it has been judicially decided: 1. That if a single woman marry after filing her declaratory statement, she thereby abandons her right as a pre-emptor, although it is not so in the case of timber-culture claim or homestead entry; 2. The “head of a family” means the actual, living head of a family; hence, that “a deserted wife or one whose husband is a confirmed drunkard may be the head of a family;” also, that “a married woman who has minor children and has been abandoned by her husband without cause and left to support and maintain herself and children, is the head of a family and entitled to pre-empt in her own name.” Under like circumstances married women may make homestead and timber-culture entries. Otherwise a married woman cannot pre-empt government land or make a homestead or timber-culture entry.

CASUALTIES OF THE CIVIL WAR.

Chicago, Ill.

Will you please settle a dispute by telling how many lives were lost in our civil war; and how many were so wounded as to seriously cripple them for life?

A Reader.

Answer.—According to the Provost-Marshal General’s report, the casualties in the Union army from the commencement of the late civil war to its close, or say until Aug. 1, 1865, were as follows:

Killed—
Volunteer officers, white	3,357
Volunteer enlisted men, white	54,350
Officers of colored troops	124
Enlisted men of colored troops	1,790
Regulars	1,355
Total	60,976
Died of Wounds—
Volunteer officers	1,595
Volunteer enlisted men	32,095
Officers of colored troops	46
Enlisted men of colored troops	1,037
Regulars	1,174
Total	35,959
Died of Disease—
Volunteer officers	2,141
Volunteer enlisted men	152,013
Officers of colored troops	90
Enlisted men of colored troops	26,211
Regulars	3,009
Total	183,467
Discharged for Disability—
Volunteer officers	3,058
Volunteer enlisted men	209,102
Officers of colored troops	166
Enlisted men	6,889
Regulars	5,091
Total	224,306

The report of the Adjutant General of the army about five years later, Oct. 25, 1870, puts the total number of deaths in the Union army during the rebellion at 303,504, while the Surgeon General of the army reports the number at 282,955. The Adjutant General reports the total number killed in battle as 44,238; the Surgeon General reports 35,408; the former reports the total number who died of wounds as 33,993; and the latter as 49,205; the former reports the number who died of disease as 149,043; the latter as 186,216. The Quartermaster General reports the total number of graves under his supervision as 315,555; only 172,309 of which have been identified. Taking all things into consideration, the differences, according to these several reports from officers of different departments, are, in most instances, readily accounted for.

According to the only data at hand, the total Confederate losses in action are estimated as follows: Killed, 51,525; wounded, 227,871. The number who died of wounds and disease is not stated; according to a “partial statement” in the American Almanac for 1883, was 133,821. It is not clearly stated whether this includes those killed on the field.

To the above should be added the losses in the Union and Confederate navies, amounting in the case of the former to 4,030 killed and wounded in action; 2,532 died of disease; and 2,070 other casualties.

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Independence, Iowa.

Will the Curiosity Shop please to give the origin of the Church of England, and an outline of its history?

H. N. Baker.

Answer.—The history of the Church of England previous to the Reformation is closely connected with that of the Roman Catholic Church. Tradition states that some of the Apostles first carried Christianity to Britain, and the later work was carried on by Sts. Augustine, Aidan and Chad. From the eighth till the sixteenth century the English Church was subject to Rome, and the final separation was due to the extreme measures adopted at the Council of Trent. But for 200 years the seed sown by Wycliffe had been bearing fruit and preparing the people for the great work of Luther. From 1066 to 1356 there was a constant struggle between the civil and ecclesiastical powers. Then came Wycliffe’s translation into English of the Bible, and his continued war against some of the leading doctrines of the Romish Church, which led to the formation of a new sect called the Lollards, holding views similar to those of the present church. Despite persecution the new doctrines spread, encouraged by Cranmer, and later by Queen Elizabeth, until in 1562 the thirty-nine articles of faith were finally reviewed and adopted, and Protestantism was recognized as the religion of England. In 1801, by the “Act of Union,” the Episcopal churches in England and Ireland were united but the latter church was disestablished and disendowed in 1869.

WILLIAM WALLACE—ROBERT BRUCE.

Valley, Wis.

1. Will you please give a few of the principal facts in the life of Sir William Wallace? 2. Where and when did Robert Bruce die?

E. F. Marshall.

Answer.—1. Wallace was the younger son of a Scottish knight of good family in the southwest of Scotland. Neither the date nor the place of his birth is definitely known, but the former must have been about 1270. There is nothing certain known of his early life. He first comes into notice as the leader of an insurrectionary movement against Edward I. who had usurped the regal rights of John Baliol, King of Scotland, and held him a prisoner in the Tower of London. In 1297 the rebellion against Edward had become general, and Wallace, resolved to force the liberation of Baliol and the independence of Scotland, made preparations to invade England. On the 11th of September he defeated the English forces under the Earl of Surrey at Sterling Castle with great slaughter, and, pursuing them into Cumberland and Northumberland, ravaged that portion of England. On his return he was made Governor of Scotland, or Regent, in the name of the imprisoned monarch. This elevation of a man of comparatively humble birth over the nobility of Scotland excited fierce jealousy among the latter, which undoubtedly had much to do with the defeat of the Scots the subsequent year by the English King and an overwhelming army at Falkirk, July 22. The war was continued with varying fortunes for seven years, but in 1304 Edward compelled the Scots to submit, granting amnesty to all the insurgent nobles. Wallace, however, was excepted from amnesty, and, having been betrayed into the hands of Edward by his own countrymen, he was carried to London, where, after a mock trial on the charge of treason, and the endurance of barbarities of the most savage nature, he was executed Aug. 23, 1305. His name is held in reverence by all true Scots, who now concede to him the glory of having roused the Scotch love of country, and led the way to that sturdy resistance of English oppression which finally resulted in averting the fate that overtook Ireland. A monument to Wallace was erected at Abbey Craig, near Stirling, at a cost of £13,000, and inaugurated Aug. 27, 1869. 2. Robert Bruce, King of Scots, died at Cardross Castle, on the firth of Clyde, June 7, 1329.

ANNUAL EXPENDITURES OF THE UNITED STATES.

Dixon, Ill.

What has been the least expenditure of the United States Government in any single year since it was established; also what has been the greatest, and what has been the annual expenditure of each year since the war?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—The gross expenditures of the United States Government in 1791 amounted to $3,797,436.78. This is the lowest sum, and the next lowest was in 1793, $6,479,977.97. The greatest amount any year before the great rebellion was in 1859, during Buchanan’s administration, when his Secretary of War was so busy arming the South, $83,678,642.92. The largest amount expended by the government in any single year was in 1865. Beginning with that year the table below shows the gross expenditures of the government year by year down to June 30, 1882:

1865	$1,906,443,331.37
1866	1,139,344,081.95
1867	1,093,079,655.27
1868	1,069,889,970.74
1869	584,777,996.11
1870	702,907,842.88
1871	691,680,858.90
1872	682,525,270.21
1873	524,044,597.91
1874	724,698,933.99
1875	682,000,885.32
1876	714,446,357.39
1877	565,299,898.91
1878	590,641,271.70
1879	966,393.692.69
1880	700,233,238.19
1881	425,865,222.64
1882	529,627,739.12

TRUMAN HENRY SAFFORD.

Aurora, Ill.

What has become of that wonderful mathematician, T. H. Safford? Does he still retain those remarkable powers which distinguished him as a boy? Oblige several readers with a few facts as to his life.

F. Stringer.

Answer.—Truman Henry Safford, once widely noticed as “the remarkable boy mathematician,” was born at Royalton, Vt., Jan. 6, 1836, and graduated at Harvard in 1854. He compiled an almanac when he was 9 years old, making all the astronomical and other calculations. When he was but about 14 he calculated the elliptic elements of the first comet of 1849. He was appointed in 1863 Adjunct Observer in the Cambridge University, and two years later made Acting Director. While at this observatory he determined the right ascension of 1,700 stars and the declination of 450, and made 6,000 transit observations, besides completing Professor Bond’s report of discoveries in the constellation Orion. On Dec. 28, 1865, he accepted the post of director of the Chicago Observatory, where he remained until 1878, making many observations of similar nature to the last above named. He is now connected with Williams College.

HERO AND LEANDER.

Chicago, Ill.

Please tell the story of Hero and Leander, illustrated in the picture displayed in a window on State street, corner of Adams.

Ignoramus.

Answer.—Hero was a priestess of Venus. Leander was a youth of Abydos, a famous city on the Asiatic side of the strait of the Hellespont, nearly opposite the city of Sestos on the European coast, where he first saw Hero. It appears to have been a case of love at first sight, and an intensely ardent case at that. Hero’s office as priestess, and the resolute opposition of her parents stood in the way of their union, cold and strong as the swift current of the Hellespont, which at this its narrowest point, is swift and deep, and about one and a quarter miles wide. Undaunted by all these obstacles, Leander swam across the strait every night to visit his beloved, who directed his course by holding a torch from the upper window of a tower on the shore. After many delightful meetings, the dauntless lover was drowned one stormy night, and his body was washed ashore at the foot of the tower where Hero stood, expecting him. Heartbroken at the sight, she flung herself from the tower into the sea, and passed with her lover into the immortality of art and song.

XENOPHON AND GROTE.

Petersburg, Ill.

1. Please give a sketch of the lives of the historians, Xenophon and Grote. 2. Describe the scythed chariots of the Greeks and Persians.

Constant Reader.

Answer.—Xenophon, son of the Athenian, Gryllus, was born B. C. 445-4. He was a pupil of Socrates. He joined the expedition of Cyrus against Artaxerxes, King of Persia, and in the retreat of the ten thousand, following the battle of Cunaxa, became the leader of the Greeks, after the treacherous execution of their former generals. A full account of the expedition and retreat is given in his “Anabasis.” Being banished from Athens soon after his return, he joined the Spartan army, in which he fought against his own countrymen at Coronea. He lived at Scillus, in Elis, for more than twenty years (until driven thence by the Eleans), hunting, farming, and writing. It was there that he wrote the “Anabasis” and the “Hellenica.” The last years of his life were passed at Corinth, where he died about 356 B. C. George Grote, politician, historian, and philosopher, was born at Clay Hill, Beckenham, Kent, Eng., in 1794. As a statesman he was in sympathy with the leading reforms of his time, and made several effective speeches in their behalf. His first work as an author was upon parliamentary reform. The preparation of his history of Greece occupied thirteen years, and the last two volumes were published in 1856. In 1865 appeared his work on Plato. Thereafter he devoted himself to the study of Aristotle. 2. The scythed chariot was used by the Britons and Persians. It had two wheels connected by an axle, upon which rested, without springs, the body of the chariot, consisting of a floor with a semi-circular guard in front about three feet high. It had no seat, and was open at the back. In it stood the warrior and his charioteer. Attached to the rims of the wheels projecting on each side and bristling from the axle were scythes or blades of swords for cutting down those who came in the way.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.

Roberts, Ill.

Tell us something of the birth, education, and work of Florence Nightingale, the famous hospital nurse.

James Bond.

Answer.—She was born at Florence, Italy, in 1823, being the daughter of William Shore Nightingale, Embly Park, Hampshire; she was educated with great care, and was rather notable for her brilliant accomplishments. Very early she showed great interest in all institutions for the alleviation of suffering, and later visited and inspected hospitals throughout Europe. She studied with Sisters of Charity in Paris their system of nursing in the hospitals of that city, and was trained also in the institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserwerthen, on the Rhine. Later she organized the Sanitarium for Governesses in London. Soon after the breaking out of the Crimean war she offered to organize a nursing department at Scutari, and with the consent of Lord Herbert left England Oct. 21, 1854, reaching Constantinople in time to take charge of the wounded from the battle of Inkerman. In 1855 she was prostrated by a fever, the result of overwork, but refused to rest, and remained in Scutari until the English evacuated Turkey, July 28, 1856. The British army almost idolized her. For some years Miss Nightingale has been an invalid, but she has never ceased to plan and work for the welfare of soldiers. At the close of the Crimean war a fund of $250,000 was subscribed to enable her to establish a school for the training of nurses, which is doing a noble work. She has published several books bearing upon the work to which her life has been devoted.

ARTIFICIAL POULTRY BROODERS.

Wichita, Kan.

What is an “artificial mother” or chicken brooder? Please tell us what it looks like and how to use it?

An Old Subscriber.

Answer.—There are two or three illustrations and descriptions of chicken brooders, but they are all essentially the same thing. Of course the nearer it comes to being a good substitute for the hen mother the better it will be. Make a box about three or four feet square and five or six inches deep, with a board top and a sheet-iron, or, still better, a zinc bottom. Some tack a lamb skin, drooping nearly to the bottom, to the top of this box and do not use artificial heat; but the generally approved plan is to use one lamp and tin flue like those used in the artificial incubator, hitherto described, for warming a brooder of this size. Bore several small auger holes through the top as escape flues for the heat; or, still better, arrange three or four tin escape pipes of an inch diameter, as was done in the “heater” of the incubator, dropping them down to within a couple of inches of the bottom of the box. Next cut a strip from some old blanket, or other coarse, soft woolen stuff, and tack it around the lower edge of the box so that it will hang down about four inches all round. Slash this at intervals of three or four inches, so that the chicks can push through it. Now set blocks two inches thick under two corners and three inches thick under the other two corners, and your brooder is ready for use. Keep the temperature up to 80 or 90 deg. Keep the box thoroughly clean, and move it from one dry place to another every day or so. Dust the chicks occasionally with sulphur or pyrethrum, to keep off vermin, and smear their feathers here and there with paraffine. On one side of the brooder there should be a “run” for the chicks to exercise in, which may be a box covered with laths on top and sides, but with space next the ground to allow them to run out. For protection against rats at night cover the whole brooder with a close box perforated with small auger-holes for ventilation.

RELIGIOUS STATISTICS OF CHICAGO.

Rockford, Ill.

What is the present number of churches in Chicago? Does the increase of churches and church membership keep pace with the increase of population?

Mrs. W.

Answer..—Mr. E. F. Cragin, one of the officers of the Congregational Club of this city, has given some attention to this subject, and at the last meeting of the club presented the following figures, based on the census and the number of churches and church members, computed from the best data at hand:

Year.	Churches and Missions.	Year.	Population.	Ratio of Members to Pop.
1840	6	1840	4,479	1 to 747
1851	28	1850	28,269	1 to 1,009
1862	84	1860	109,260	1 to 1,301
1870	187	1870	298,977	1 to 1,599
1880	242	1880	503,185	1 to 2,079

These figures include Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, Jewish synagogues, two Mormon churches, several Spiritualists societies, and indeed, every society listed in our city directory as religious organizations. There are 188 of the 242 churches given for 1880, which are classed by Mr. Cragin as Evangelical Protestants, of which 38 have services conducted in foreign languages. The population between 6 and 21 years is given as 155,000, while the total membership of Sunday schools is but 81,289. By way of postscript Mr. Cragin remarks that the number of arrests in 1882 was over 33,000, or 1 to 18 of the population.

BRUNO, THE PANTHEIST.

Northwood, Iowa.

Who was “the Philosopher Bruno?”

L. O. Harmon.

Answer.—Giordano Bruno, the leader of the modern school of pantheistic philosophy, was born at Nola, Naples, about the middle of the sixteenth century. He joined the order of the Dominican Monks, but becoming dissatisfied with some of their doctrines, was expelled. He fled first to Geneva, thence to Paris, and finally to England, meeting with opposition and persecution. In 1585 he returned to Paris, and in the next year went to Germany, where he studied and taught. Becoming dissatisfied there, he settled in Padua, Italy, but was soon after arrested in Venice by officers of the Inquisition, and burned at Rome in 1600. 2. A sketch of Socrates has rarely been given. 3. The Credit Mobilier is also fully explained in the bound volume of “The Curiosity Shop” for 1880.

CITIZENS’ LEAGUE—TEMPERANCE ARGUMENTS.

Mount Morris, Ill.

Favor us with a statement of the precise objects and scope of the Citizens’ League of Illinois, and the chief provisions of its constitution and by-laws: as we may conclude to form a branch organization here.

W. P. J.

Answer.—The organization is called “The Citizens’ League of the State of Illinois.” Its objects are the suppression of the sale of liquors to minors and drunkards, and the enforcement of the liquor laws. These objects it aims to effect (1) by enforcing all existing laws and ordinances, prohibiting the selling or giving of intoxicating liquors to minors or drunkards, and prohibiting minors from playing games in places where liquors are sold, (2) by adopting from time to time such other means as may be deemed necessary, or as may in experience be found advisable for the accomplishment of the general purposes of the organization, which is the saving of our youth from habits of dissipation and vice, and, (3) by organizing and fostering, especially in every county seat in Illinois, local leagues, having the same object in view.

Any local league in Illinois, the name of which contains the words “The Citizens’ League” in addition to words of distinction, and the constitution of which is in harmony with the object of the above association, as expressed in section 2 of article 1 of its constitution, may become a constitutional branch of this league on the payment of $10 per annum, with power to send three delegates to each league meeting.

This organization was founded Nov. 25, 1877, immediately after the riots that were so prevalent throughout the country, commencing with the terrible outbreak at Pittsburg, Pa., in July of that year. Prominent citizens of Chicago observed that nearly all the actors in the gangs of rowdies and loafers that entered manufactories and other business places, commanding employes to stop work, were youths under 20 years of age. An investigation of the causes of juvenile depravity was instituted. They learned that of the 28,035 persons arrested for crime in Chicago in the year 1877 no less than 6,818 were under 20 years of age, and that 1,782 of these were committed to the Bridewell. They also learned that in that year the arrests of minors had increased 720, and the commitments of minors to the Bridewell had increased 200 over the number in the preceding year. With a view of verifying these figures and learning the causes of this wholesale demoralization of the young, they made extensive tours of observation through the city by day and by night, and they soon satisfied themselves that it was the liquor and beer saloons that were transforming the youth of Chicago into vagrants and desperadoes. They found scarcely a saloon in which there were no juvenile customers, while in one of them they found 78, in another 93, and in another 147 children, patronizing the bar like adults. Subsequently detectives were posted at the doors of six prominent concert saloons on the same evening, with instructions to count all the people who entered them between 7 p. m. and midnight. At one door there were counted 1,680 males, 290 females, total, 1,979; at another, 1,423 males, 58 females, total, 1,741; at another, 2,609 males, 254 females, total, 2,863; at another, 2,658 males, 148 females, total, 2,806; at another, 1,657 males, 163 females, total, 1,820, and at another, 1,591 males, 94 females, total, 1,685. It was found impracticable to make a separate count of the minors who entered these places on that evening, but it was plainly seen that of these 11,618 male and 1,007 female customers an astonishingly large proportion were boys and girls. And as there were at that time about 3,000 saloons in the city, it was estimated that not less than 30,000 of the children of Chicago were their regular patrons. The police confirmed this estimate and asserted that, in face of State laws and city ordinances positively prohibiting the sale of beer and liquor to minors, which were regarded as dead-letter laws, there were saloon keepers who made a practice of tempting children into saloons and making them drunk. The first overt act of the league was the arrest of one of these monsters named Baker Born, who had been guilty of enticing into his saloon nine little boys, who were on their way home from Sunday school, and making them drunk. He was arraigned before Justice Daniel Scully and promptly fined $25 and costs. The league drew great inspiration from the public indignation which Born’s crime excited, and from the promptness with which he was punished; and from that time to the present it has gone steadily forward, increasing every year in activity, influence and popularity. The following table contains a succinct statement of its operations (prosecutions and outlay) for the first four years of its existence;

	1878.	1879.	1880.	1881.	Total.
Saloon-keepers	241	166	96	233	736
To Grand Jury	81	90	50	60	281
Fined by Justice	83	85	13	83	264
Annual Outlay	$1,400	$1,600	$1,240	$1,542	$5,781

During the first five months of 1882, 500 saloon-keepers were prosecuted. Of this number, 40 were sent to the Grand Jury, 294 were fined by justices, and 35 held for trial.

The effect of the operations of the league on the morals of the youth of Chicago was instantaneous and permanent. In 1876 the arrests of minors increased 960, and in 1877 they increased 720; but in 1878, the first year of the league’s existence, they decreased 1,418, and in 1879 they decreased 139. And although they have increased slightly in the last two years, the increase is amply accounted for by the policy of the city government and the increase of the population, which increased 204,208 in the last decade, against 188,004 in the previous decade. But notwithstanding both of these adverse influences, there have never been as many minors arrested in Chicago in any year since 1877 as there were in that year. The reduction in the commitments of minors to the Bridewell was even more marked. In 1876 these commitments increased 192, and in 1877 they increased 255. But ever since the league was organized they have constantly decreased. They decreased 211 in 1878; 324 in 1879; 23 in 1880; and 17 in 1881.

For a pamphlet containing an address detailing the origin, operations, and successes of this league, and a copy of its constitution and by-law, address the Citizens’ League of Illinois, 127 LaSalle street, Chicago.

HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT.

Chicago, Ill.

I desire to copyright a play. How shall I proceed? What length of time will it require, and what will it cost? State any other particulars that are important.

U. R. Akerstrom.

Answer.—Every applicant for a copyright must state distinctly the name and residence of the claimant, and whether right is claimed as author, designer, or proprietor. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, or photograph, or a description of the painting, drawing, chromo, statue, statuary, or model or design for work of the fine arts, for which copyright is desired, must be sent by mail or otherwise, prepaid, addressed, “Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.” This must be done before publication of the book or other article. Publication in this connection means the giving to the public or vending of the article. A fee of 50 cents for recording the title of the book, dramatic composition, or other article must be inclosed with the title and application, and 50 cents in addition for each certificate of copyright under seal of the Librarian of Congress, which will be transmitted by early mail. One certificate being all that is usually needed, $1 is the total necessary inclosure. Within ten days after publication of the book or other article, two complete copies must be sent prepaid to the Librarian of Congress, to perfect the copyright. Without the deposit of these copies, not only is the copyright void, but a penalty of $25 is incurred. No copyright is valid unless notice is given by inserting in every copy published the following words: “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 18—, by ——, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington;” or else the words: “Copyright, 18—, by ——.” The law imposes a penalty of $100 upon any person who inserts the above words or others of the same import, in or upon any book or other article before he has obtained copyright. Each copyright secures the exclusive right of publishing the book or article for twenty-eight years. Six months before the end of that time, the author or designer, or his widow or children, may secure a renewal for the further term of fourteen years.

NIHILISM.

Athens, Tenn.

What is the true meaning of Nihilism?

S. C. Bruner.

Answer.—There is no authoritative definition of Nihilism. Certain of their leaders define it very differently from others. All of them seem to be pretty well agreed that society as now constituted is utterly wrong from foundation to turret, and most of them are in favor of overturning existing governments, casting to the winds the prevailing conceptions of individual, family, and social rights, and returning to a state of anarchy, if need be, to begin the work of reconstruction anew. Nihil is a Latin word signifying nothing, and the name Nihilists is applied to these radical revolutionists by the world at large as indicative of the tendency of their doctrines and political operations, including as they do the assassination of rulers, the springing of mines, and the firing of palaces, government offices, and even towns and cities, in the effort to annihilate all existing doctrines and systems of government. Communism and Socialism were defined in these columns but a week or two ago.

CLYDESDALES AND NORMANS.

Oskaloosa, Iowa.

State the origin of the Clydesdale and Norman breeds of horses, and whether it is proper to call them thoroughbreds?

T. J. Casto.

Answer.—The Norman horses are named from Normandy, France, and, although distinguished by different names, are probably all of one blood, the names only being of local origin. James M. Hiatt, in the “National Register of Norman Horses,” maintains that the Percherons are derived from the Boulonnais and the Breton horses, the former of Bourbourg, France, and the latter of Bretagne. The Clydesdale horse takes its name from a district on the Clyde, in Scotland, where it was introduced by one of the dukes of Hamilton, who crossed the native Lanark mares with fine heavy Flemish stallions. It is proper to speak of “thoroughbred Norman horses,” or “thoroughbred Clydesdales,” but when the term thoroughbred is used without any qualifying word it is understood to refer to horses bred for speed, with undisputed pedigree in the Stud-book.

DESERT LAND ACT.

Rapid City, D. T.

Is there a “Desert Land Act” under which our government disposes of public lands? If so, please explain it.

A. F. Coffey.

Answer.—Desert lands are such as will not produce crops without artificial irrigation. The act of March 3, 1877, provides that persons may make entry of such lands in the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories. The applicant for such land must file a declaration that he is a citizen, that he intends within three years to reclaim the said tract of desert land by conducting water thereon. It must be shown by two witnesses, in writing, that the tract comes within the statutory description of desert lands. At the end of three years, on proof that the land has been reclaimed by irrigation, a patent will issue for it on payment of 25 cents an acre.

REDUCTION OF THE NATIONAL DEBT.

Valley Center, Kan.

At the present rate of reduction how long will it take to extinguish the public debt?

W. W. Turner.

Answer.—There never has been any uniform rate of reduction of the National debt. It varies with the changes in the revenue laws, the business of the country, and appropriations from the Treasury for other purposes. The pension arrears act has already retarded the payment of the debt by over $100,000,000, and will continue to be a heavy drain for years to come. The recent reduction of the tariff and internal revenue taxes will reduce the National income greatly. The total debt at the highest point, Aug. 31, 1865, was $2,844,649,626; on Aug. 31, 1880, fifteen years later, it was $2,105,386,267. This shows an average reduction of nearly $50,000,000 a year. For the two years ending June 30, 1882, the reduction was $202,103,376, or over $101,000,000 per annum. With the recent reductions of the tariff and internal revenue and the heavy drafts for pensions it is not likely that this rate of debt reduction will be maintained, a rate which would extinguish the whole debt by the year 1900. It is proper to add that, deducting cash in the Treasury August 31, 1865, amounting to $88,218,055, the net debt at the highest point was $2,756,431,571.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHING.

Kankakee, Ill.

When, where, and by whom was the first electric telegraphing done?

A. B. Dale.

Answer.—Professor Morse sent the first message by the electric telegraph, from Washington to Baltimore, May 27, 1844. The printing telegraph was suggested in 1837 by Alfred Vail, and a model was made by Wheatstone four years later, but this process of telegraphy has never gone into general use.

NORDENSKJOLD, THE DISCOVERER.

Holland City, Mich.

Please give a short sketch of Professor Nordenskjold, giving date of his discoveries in the Arctic regions.

Subscriber.

Answer.—Adolph Eric Nordenskjold (born 1832), was educated at the University of Borgo, and afterward studied at Helsingfors, an important naval station on the Baltic. After teaching mathematics for two years, he was cashiered for his political opinions in 1855, but returned in the following year only to be again driven from the country. In 1858, however, he was appointed State Mineralogist at Stockholm, and in 1867 he married Countess Anna Mannerheim, a Finnish lady—an event that led him to seek an appointment to the chair of Mineralogy and Geology at Helsingfors, but the government again refused for political reasons. Nordenskjold now obtained naturalization papers as a Swedish citizen, and entered Swedish politics. He sailed in the Vega, to find a northeast passage, July 4, 1878, and reached Yokohama, via the discovered passage, in September, 1879.

COMMUNISM AND SOCIALISM.

Athens, Tenn.

What is the meaning of communism and socialism as used in the newspapers?

A Reader.

Answer..—Communism is the doctrine that society should be reorganized on the basis of abolishing individual ownership of property and control of wages, and most of the now generally admitted rights of individuals in their private and domestic relations, and substituting therefor community ownership and control of every person and everything. Socialism is a sort of limited communism. It would not entirely abolish individual rights of property and personal self-control, but seeks to force a more equitable distribution of property, and level the present extreme distinctions between men of various classes. To effect their purpose radical socialists have rendered themselves obnoxious to many who would accept most of the principles laid down by their great leader, Saint Simon, by advocating resort to revolutionary methods of the most reprehensible kinds, including in some places the use of dynamite and the assassin’s dagger.

BISHOP FALLOWS.

Earlville, Ill.

Please give a brief outline of the life of Bishop Fallows.

S. C. Hilton.

Answer.—Samuel Fallows, D. D., born in England in 1835, was in 1859 ordained to the ministry of the M. E. Church. During the civil war he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He was for seven years Regent of Wisconsin University; later President of Illinois Wesleyan University, and, while editor of the Appeal, was chosen Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church, July 1, 1876, of which he is now recognized as one of the ablest prelates and most eloquent orators.

MUSHROOM AND TOADSTOOL.

Ravanna, Mo.

What is a mushroom, and what is the difference between it and a frogstool? Give a description of each.

A Reader.

Answer.—A mushroom is a genus of fungi, including many species, edible and poisonous. It grows in marshy places during the warm months. Often the name is restricted to the species used as food, which is regularly convex, fleshy, dry, and white, with a tinge of brown or yellow. It is smooth or scaly on the upper surface, never warty; on the under side the gills are pink when young, and later turn brown. Toward the top of the fleshy stem is a white, membraneous ring. The plant is best for food when young, being then in the form of a ball, covered with a thin membrane. The toadstool (“frogstool”) resembles the mushroom, but the top is shiny, white, or dark red, and the gills are perpendicular. This species is poisonous.

STATE SECURITY FOR UNITED STATES LOANS.

Moultrie, Ohio.

Was there a time in the history of our General Government when its credit was so low that it was necessary for one or more States to go security for a loan made by it?

S. R. Roose.

Answer.—There has been no such time since the adoption of the present Constitution. The nearest the Federal Government ever came to such a humiliation was in 1860, when, through the cutting down of the tariff in 1857 and the outrageous expenditures during President Buchanan’s administration, the National debt had swelled to over $64,000,000, and money could not be raised on United States Treasury notes at less than 10, 11, and finally 12 per cent interest. Then John A. Dix, who succeeded Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury, about the close of 1860, found the public credit so low that, in desperation, he recommended to the Committee of Ways and Means that the States be asked to secure the repayment of money which the government should borrow, by pledging the repayment for this purpose of the public deposits received by them in the distribution of the surplus in the United States Treasury in 1836. However, Congress did not adopt this recommendation.

During the revolutionary times, before and under the old Articles of Confederation, Congress had no authority to levy and collect taxes and customs dues, as it has now. Various plans for raising money were discussed, all dependent on the sanction of the several colonial or State Legislatures. The first plan resorted to for using the credit of the General Government was to issue paper money. Three modes of doing this were considered: First, “That every colony should strike for itself the sum apportioned by the Continental Congress; secondly, that the Continental Congress should strike the whole sum necessary, and each colony become bound to sink its proportionable part; thirdly, that the Continental Congress should strike the whole sum, and apportion the several shares to the different Colonies,” every Colony becoming bound to discharge its own particular part, and all the Colonies to discharge the portion which any particular Colony should be unable to pay. The views of the delegates were widely divergent, but Congress decided, June 22, 1775—more than a year before the Declaration of Independence—to issue bills of credit, not exceeding 2,000,000 Spanish milled dollars, pledging the faith of the twelve Confederate Colonies for their redemption. The sum was subsequently increased to $3,000,000, and apportioned, on the basis of population, among the Colonies that had joined the confederation—not then including Georgia—as follows:

Colonies.	Amount.
New Hampshire	$124,069.50
Massachusetts Bay	434,244.00
Rhode Island	71,959.50
Connecticut	48,139.00
New York	245,139.00
New Jersey	161,290.50
Pennsylvania	372,208.50
Delaware	37,219.50
Maryland	310,174.50
Virginia	496,278.00
North Carolina	248,139.00
South Carolina	248,139.00

Each Colony was to pay its respective quota in four equal annual installments, commencing on the last day of November, 1779; and for this purpose each was to levy and collect taxes. But, though from first to last the States insisted upon retaining the power to tax, and Congress was obliged to trust wholly to them for funds raised in this manner, they did not tax themselves, as they were in duty bound to do, and neither contributed as they should have done to sustain the National Government, nor raised much to sustain their own organizations, civil and military. “Throughout the entire period from 1774 to 1789,” says Bolles, “only very small sums flowed into the general treasury from the State treasuries.”

In the spring of 1780 Congress resolved, after a great many whereases, “to receive silver and gold in payment of the quotas assigned to the States, at the rate of one Spanish milled dollar in lieu of $40 of the bills then in circulation.” Subsequent loans were made, and the debt apportioned among the several States; but the latter paid but a trifling part of their assessments, as shown by the following table, giving the assessment on each State on account of the requisition of Congress for $8,000,000 in November, 1781, and the amount actually paid to the end of 1783, as given in “Bolles’ Financial History of the United States,” vol. I.:

State.	Assessment.	Am’t paid.
New Hampshire	$373,598	$3,000.00
Massachusetts	1,307,596	247,676.66
Rhode Island	216,684	67,847.95
Connecticut	747,196	131,577.83
New York	373,598	39,064.01
New Jersey	485,679	102,004.95
Pennsylvania	1,120,794	346,632.98
Delaware	112,085
Maryland	993,996	89,302.11
Virginia	1,307,594	116,103.53
North Carolina	622,677
South Carolina	373,598	344,301.57
Georgia	24,905
	$8,000,000	$1,486,154.71

On the other hand, in justice to the “Fathers,” it should be stated that the several States expended large sums on their individual accounts, for sustaining the common cause against Great Britain, aggregating, it was estimated, about $25,000,000; $18,271,786,47 of which Congress assumed in 1790, after the States had surrendered to the Federal Government the right to levy and collect all tariffs on foreign imports. The indebtedness incurred by the States for the Revolutionary cause and thus assumed by the United States is shown in the following table:

New Hampshire	$282,595.51
Rhode Island	200,000.00
Massachusetts	3,981,733.05
Connecticut	1,600,000.00
New York	1,183,716.69
New Jersey	695,202.70
Pennsylvania	777,983.48
Delaware	59,161.65
Maryland	517,491.08
Virginia, including Kentucky	2,934,416.00
North Carolina	1,793,803.85
South Carolina	3,999,651.73
Georgia	246,030.73
	$18,271,786.47

The foreign loans made by the United States during the revolutionary war pledged the faith of all the States. These amounted in toto to $150,000 from the Spanish Government; about 8,000,000 guilders by subscription in Holland, and 18,000,000 livres from the French Government, besides the free gifts of the French King, “forming an object,” wrote Franklin, “of at least 12,000,000 livres, from which no returns but that of gratitude and friendship are expected. These, I hope, may be everlasting.”

ORIGIN OF JOURNALISM.

Paris, Texas.

1. Were any newspapers or periodicals published before the invention of printing? 2. Give a short sketch of the advancement of journalism.

Frank Lee.

Answer.—1. At a very early period daily news letters were circulated, concerning public and official acts, in Rome, Venice, and China. 2. The first printed newspaper was the Gazette, published in Nuremberg in 1457, and the oldest paper extant is the Neue Zeitung aus Hispanien und Italien, printed in the same city in 1534. Other countries followed Germany in issuing printed newspapers in the following order: England in 1622; France, 1631; Sweden, 1644; Holland, 1656; Russia, 1703; Turkey, 1827. The progress of journalism has been most rapid in America. The first American newspaper consisting of three pages of two columns each and a blank page, was published in Boston, Sept. 25, 1690, under the name of “Publick Occurences, both Foreign and Domestic,” but it was immediately suppressed. In 1704 the Boston News Letter appeared, printed on one sheet of foolscap paper. It flourished for seventy-two years. The following data will show the advancement in the United States:

First printing office in 1639.
First newspaper in 1690.
First political newspaper in 1733.
First daily paper in 1784.
First penny paper in 1833.
First illustrated paper in 1853.

In 1880 there were published in America (United States and Canada) 10,131 newspapers and periodicals—899 dailies, 8,428 weeklies, tri-weeklies and semi-weeklies, and 804 monthlies and semi-monthlies. More than 6,000 of this number belong to the United States, and the annual circulation is about 1,500,000,000.

WHO VOTE IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Glenville, Minn.

What class of persons are allowed to vote for members of Parliament in Great Britain?

T. W.

Answer.—The “Commons of England” consists of the representatives of shires or counties, representatives of cities, and representatives of boroughs. For representatives of boroughs every man is entitled to vote who is of full age and not subject to any legal incapacity, provided he is on the last day of July in any year, and has during the whole of the preceding twelve months been an “inhabitant occupier,” as owner or tenant, of any dwelling-house within the borough; has during the time of such occupation been rated (or taxed) “as an ordinary occupier in respect of the premises so occupied by him within the borough to all rates made for the relief of the poor in respect of such premises,” and has paid the said rate; or has occupied as a lodger in the same borough separately, and as sole tenant for the time above designated, “a part of one and the same dwelling house, of a clear yearly value, if let unfurnished, of £10 or upward.” For representatives of counties any man may be registered as a voter who is of full age, and not subject to any legal incapacity, who shall be in possession at law or in equity of any lands or tenements, of copyhold, or any other tenure whatever, except freehold, for his own lifetime or for the life of another or for any larger estate of the clear yearly value of not less than £5 over and above all rents and charges, who is on the last day of July of any year (and has been during the preceding twelve months) the occupier as owner or tenant of lands or tenements within the county of the ratable value of £12 or upward, and has paid all poor rates rated to him. The qualifications of city electors are not materially different from those above given. Of the 487 members for England and Wales, 187 represent counties, 295 cities and boroughs, and 5 represent the three universities.

The qualifications of electors in Scotland and Ireland are somewhat different. In Scotland, the burgher franchise is given to every man of full age who has been for twelve months an occupier, as owner or tenant, of any dwelling, and has paid his poor rates, and not been in receipt of parochial relief during that time. The lodger franchise consists in the permission of any lodger to vote who has occupied in the same burgh separately, and as sole tenant for twelve months, a lodging worth £10. In the counties the ownership franchise requires the property to be worth an annual net rental of £5, and a residential qualification of six months. In Ireland the borough franchise requires a lodging of the value of £4, where in England it must be at least £10, the other qualifications being similar to those required in England.

TYPE-WRITERS.

Chapin, Iowa.

What are the advantages gained by the use of type-writers? By whom were they invented, and where?

G. W. Adams.

Answer.—Perhaps the earliest form of a type-writer is a rude machine invented in England in 1714, without any practical fruits. M. Foucault, sent to the Paris Exposition of 1855 a writing machine for the blind; but the first of what are now popularly known as type-writers was patented in 1868, by C. L. Sholes, of Wisconsin. This has been improved until now it is possible to attain a speed of seventy-five to eighty words a minute in writing with this machine, which is fast enough for reporting speeches. The principal advantages gained are rapidity of execution and legibility. A type-writer can write with both hands and several fingers in instant succession, every letter being made with a single light touch instead of requiring from three to seven distinct strokes and dots, as in ordinary script.

NOT ONE CENT FOR TRIBUTE.

Eau Claire, Wis.

By whom and when was the remark used: “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute”?

John J. Maginnis.

Answer..—An ill-feeling grew up between the United States and France soon after the breaking out of the great French revolution, near the close of the last century. France seemed determined that our government should take active part with it in hostilities against Great Britain. Washington and the Federal party insisted on strict neutrality. The French Minister, Citizen Genet, encouraged by the strong French sympathies of the Republicans of those days and the almost universal ill-feeling toward Great Britain, undertook to set President Washington’s proclamation of neutrality at defiance by an appeal to the people, encouraged the organization of secret political societies opposed to the administration, and even instituted recruiting for the French army on American soil. His course became so obnoxious that Washington demanded his recall. M. Fauchet was sent to succeed him, but the ill-feeling rather increased than diminished. In 1796 Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, one of our revolutionary heroes, was sent to France as United States Minister, charged, among other matters, to negotiate a settlement of all differences, on the basis of American neutrality. The French Directory treated him with an incivility almost unbearable, and finally ordered him to quit the country. He withdrew to Amsterdam for a time, but, on some change of affairs in France, returned in the early part of 1797, when Talleyrand, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, declined to treat further until his government had received a payment from the United States in the nature of a present or tribute, and threatened war as the consequence of a refusal. Thereupon Pinckney gave utterance to the patriotic exclamation, “War be it then; millions for defense, sir, but not a cent for tribute.” These words were caught up by the administration party at home and echoed and re-echoed throughout the land until, in 1798, Congress was nerved to provide a strong naval armament. Later Washington, who had been succeeded in the Presidency by John Adams, was called to the chief command of the army, several French vessels were captured in reprisal for damages inflicted on American citizens, and an open declaration of war was daily looked for, when Napoleon I. came into power, and France, satisfied that the United States was in stern earnest, made overtures for reconciliation, which resulted in the treaty of 1800, honorable to all concerned.

RAINFALL OF THE UNITED STATES.

Mason, Ill.

Please give the rainfall in different portions of the United States.

T. M. Triplett.

Answer.—There is a small circle in Central Florida where the annual rainfall ranges from sixty to seventy inches. There is a belt covering Western Alabama, Eastern Mississippi, also Southern Louisiana for fifty to sixty miles on either side of the Mississippi River, where it measures from sixty to sixty-four inches. But the heaviest rainfall in the United States is in Alaska, where it is over eighty inches, and along the western coast of Oregon and Washington Territory, between the Cascade Range and the Pacific, increasing from sixty-eight inches south of the Columbia River to eighty inches on Puget Sound. In Central Georgia and South Carolina it is fifty-two to forty-eight; in Central North Carolina and Virginia, diminishing northward, it is forty-eight to thirty-six. Along the Atlantic coast, for about seventy-five miles inward, it ranges from forty-four inches at Savannah to forty in Connecticut, and thence increases to forty-four in Northern Maine. Along both flanks of the Alleghanies and Blue Ridge it is nearly uniform at 40. In most of the region south of the Ohio and Missouri, from Eastern Tennessee to Eastern Texas, it ranges from 48 inches in the south to 44 in the north, and the latter is about the average for Southern Indiana and Southwestern Ohio. The average for Illinois and Northern Indiana and Pennsylvania is about 40. For Western New York, Northern Ohio, lower Michigan, Wisconsin, Southeastern Minnesota, and most of Iowa it ranges from 40 to 32, diminishing toward the great lakes. West of the Missouri it ranges from 30 inches in Eastern Kansas to 26 in Dakota, and diminishes toward the Rocky Mountains. In Southern Texas it ranges from 48 near the southeastern corner to 28 on the Rio Grande, and diminishes to 34 in the northeastern, and 29 in the northwestern corners. In California the rainfall ranges from 60 inches on the northern coast to 9 or 10 in the south, and diminishes inland to 8 or 10 in the mountain districts, and still less in the desert regions. As for the greater part of the region embracing all the Territories except Alaska, Washington, and Southeastern Dakota, all of Colorado and Nevada, the western parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and the eastern portion of Oregon, the rainfall varies between 10 inches and 22. Here and there within this region there are districts almost rainless. This is most common in Northern Arizona and Utah.

PESTALOZZI AND FROEBEL.

Dunlap, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of the lives of the three noted educational reformers, Pestalozzi, F. Froebel, and Horace Mann.

John Keitges.

Answer.—Pestalozzi, the famous Swiss educator, was born at Zurich Jan. 12, 1746. In his youth he was evidently undecided as to what profession to follow. He was first a theological student and then a law student. Having purchased some waste land, he turned from the law to farming, where he became interested in the welfare of the masses and devoted himself, during the intervals of his work, to promoting their elevation. Convinced that a rational system of education would remedy many of the evils of society, he converted his own house into an orphan asylum, and strove, by judicious blending of industrial, intellectual, and moral training, to illustrate his theory of a sound system of national education. The great idea at the basis of his system of instruction was the necessity of teaching by object lessons. Objects themselves, and not lessons about objects, were the means that he used to develop the observing and reasoning powers. He gave special attention to the moral and religious training of children, as something distinct from mere instruction in morals and religion. For two years Froebel, the father of the kindergarten system, was his pupil and assistant teacher. He died at Brugg, Switzerland, in 1827. Friedrich Wilhelm A. Froebel, to whom reference has just been made, was born at Ober-Weissbach, Germany, April 21, 1782. When sent to school he was so dull that his father, growing discouraged, took him from study and sent him to work among the wood-cutters in the forest. Here he became a student of nature and advanced, as Pestalozzi, upon his farm, to the idea of teaching from nature. In 1799 he went to school again, but falling into debt, was imprisoned by his creditors. Soon after his release he became a pupil and assistant of Pestalozzi, remaining with this great master from 1807 to 1809. He then began the study of the natural sciences, but was interrupted by the German and French war of 1813, in which he enlisted for fatherland. On the restoration of peace he became curator of the Museum of Mineralogy, under Professor Weiss, at Berlin. A few years later he began his life as a teacher, which, in 1826, the year previous to the death of Pestalozzi, he varied by publishing a work entitled “The Education of Man.” In this book he declared that man’s life was a succession of stages, each of which should be progressive. He was especially impressed with the importance of the first years of childhood as the period in which to give shape to all their after development. In 1837 he established the first kindergarten school, at Blankenburg. Having noticed the restlessness of children, and tendency to finger everything, he took advantage of these traits to arouse in them a spirit of intelligent inquiry and investigation. Much of his time was given, in schools of Germany and Switzerland, to training primary teachers. In the latter part of his life he gave special attention to the training of young female teachers, believing them to be best calculated by nature for the care and management of young children. During the revolutionary period of 1848, at a time when, through the influence of the great Middendorff, who had become interested in his kindergarten work, he hoped to enlist the support of the German Parliament in his system of teaching, he and his brother Karl were charged with socialistic tendencies, and an edict was issued forbidding the establishment of schools “after Friedrich and Karl Froebel’s principles” in Prussia. This blow utterly disheartened the veteran educator, and he died in June, 1852, at Marienthal.

A sketch of the life of Horace Mann will be found in Our Curiosity Shop for 1882.

GENERALS A. S. AND JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.

Blaine, Iowa.

Please give a brief outline of the lives of General A. S. Johnston and Joseph E. Johnston.

Reader.

Answer.—Albert Sydney Johnston served honorably in the United States army in Mexico and Utah, and at the outbreak of the civil war was appointed General in the Confederate army. He was killed in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, at the age of 59. His native State was Kentucky. General Joe Johnston was born in Virginia in 1807, and, after completing the course of study at West Point, fought in the Seminole and Mexican wars. Receiving the position of Major General in the Confederate army, he proved himself a dangerous foe in the Peninsular campaign, in Tennessee, and Carolina. He surrendered to General Sherman April 26, 1865.

COLD IN DAKOTA.

Chicago, Ill.

In the interview with Mr. Geo. B. Armstrong, Register of the Government land office at Huron, D. T., recently published in The Inter Ocean, he asserts, substantially, that it is colder in Chicago with the mercury 5 deg. below zero than it is in Huron with the mercury 35 to 38 deg. below. A number of us, who swear by the Curiosity Shop, have got into a dispute over this statement and all agree to leave it to the editor of “the shop” to decide the matter. The question is: Is it as cold in Huron, D. T., as in this city, on the average?

G. H.

Answer.—In one sense of the word, it is unquestionably colder in Huron than in Chicago. But Mr. Armstrong has not left our readers in doubt as to his meaning. He distinctly says: “With the mercury in the thermometer as low as 35 and 38 degrees below zero, we do not suffer so much as the people in Chicago with the thermometer at 5 degrees below zero. The air is dry and comfortable.” Here he clearly discriminates between the cold of the atmosphere and the sense of cold experienced by human beings. There is no ground for dispute as to the comparative average winter cold of the climate of Southern Dakota in and about Huron, and the same at Chicago. The thermometer shows that the former is several degrees greater than the latter. But taking cold in the second sense of the word, “the sensation produced by the escape of heat” from the body; “chilliness or chillness”—see Webster’s second definition—every one knows by actual experience that this depends to a considerable degree upon the dryness and stillness of the atmosphere and the state of the body. Exposed to a high wind in humid atmosphere not more than 5 or 6 degrees below zero, a person may freeze to death, when he would endure 35 or 40 degrees below zero in a dry, still air without serious suffering. Such air is classed among the poorest of all heat conductors; it belongs rather to non-conductors. The sensation of cold is due to the conduction of heat from the body more rapidly than the vital forces can replace it. Moist air in rapid motion carries off heat with great rapidity. When the skin pores are open a considerable part of the fluids of the body exudes through them, dampens the garments, and so renders them better conductors. The cold and wind evaporate this moisture in the garments. Evaporation is a cooling process; so when the pores are not kept almost sealed up by steady cold the body suffers loss of temperature both by increased conduction and evaporation. Observations of the United States Signal Service denote that the atmosphere of the region of Dakota under consideration is dryer, stiller, and less subject to extreme changes than that of Chicago; so that it is possible that, while in one sense of the word cold, it is certainly colder in Huron than it is in Chicago, in the other sense it may be no colder or not so cold there as here. This is plainly a question of personal experience, and the best that Our Curiosity Shop can do to settle this dispute is to give the above facts, and add that the testimony of many credible witnesses who have tried both climates is to the effect that, taking the winter through, one feels the cold there no more, or not so much as here. If a wager turns on our decision, taking the word cold in its first sense, the answer given above is definite and positive; taking it in the second sense, it is indecisive; a case for “a draw.”

ANCHOR ICE.

Laporte City, Iowa.—In the Curiosity Shop for June 14 I see a correspondent asks an explanation of ice forming at the bottom of rivers and remaining there. I saw this ice for the first time three years ago the past winter, at Waterloo, in this State, where business kept me most of the time. It excited my curiosity, and I studied it until satisfied of its origin. The Cedar River runs through the city, and a dam is built across it giving a power of about eight feet fall. A short distance below this is a bridge over 600 feet long. The space between the dam and the bridge is a rock-bottom rapids. Having occasion to cross the bridge frequently I noticed this ice attached to the rocks under water after the weather became cold, but not cold enough to form a solid sheet of ice on the pond. It disappeared and came again as the weather changed to warm or cold, but ceased to be formed after the pond was covered with a solid cake of ice, always forming at the beginning of cold weather. I concluded it was caused by the formation of fine crystals of ice on the pond not yet frozen together, which, as they were carried over the dam, were mixed in the surf below and driven against and stuck fast in the fine moss covering the rocks, always attached to the side of the rock facing the fall, the first crystals presenting points to catch the next, and so the mass, which appeared like water-soaked snow, grew under the water by accretion, the water being as cold as the ice itself could not thaw it. I think if the correspondent will examine he will find anchor ice is formed in rapids or at the foot of falls draining a smooth expanse of water before the water becomes covered with a solid sheet of ice, and always on the up-stream side of the rocks in the bottom.

T. A. Kellett.

CHIEF RULERS OF THE WORLD.

Windsor, Ill.

Please give in “Our Curiosity Shop” the names of the principal rulers of the world, with the countries over which they rule.

M. J. S.

Answer.—The following table embraces the chief rulers of the world:

		Crowned or
Countries.	Rulers.	inaugurated
Great Britain	Queen Victoria	1837
Germany	Emperor William I	1871
France	President Grevy	1879
Denmark	Christian IX	1863
Sweden	Oscar II	1872
Spain	Alphonso XI	1875
Portugal	Luis II	1861
Russia	Alexander III	1881
Turkey	Abdul Hamid	1876
Austria-Hungary	Francis Joseph	1848
United States	Chester A. Arthur	1881

PASSION FLOWER.

Burlington, Iowa.

Why is the passion flower so called?

Flora.

Answer.—It was called by this name by the Spanish settlers of the West Indies and South America, its native region, because they fancied it to be a representative of Christ’s passion or sacrificial death. According to this fancy, the leaf symbolizes the spear that pierced the Savior’s side; the anthers, the marks of the five wounds made by the spear; the tendrils, the cords or whips with which He was secured; the column of the ovary, the upright of the cross; the stamens, the hammers; the three styles, the nails; the filamentous processes, the crown of thorns; the calyx, the glory or halo; the white tinge, purity; the blue tint, heaven; and the fact that it remains open three days typifies his three years’ ministry.

ASBESTOS.

Aberdeen, D. T.

What is asbestos, where is it found, and what valuable properties has it?

H. T. McLane.

Answer.—Asbestos is a fibrous, white, gray, or green mineral, not easily fusible. The most beautiful specimens come from Corsica and Savoy, though some are found in the Alps, Pyrenees, and Ural Mountains, and in North America and New South Wales, while commoner varieties, such as mountain cork and mountain wood, are found in Lanarkshire, Tyrol, Dauphiny and parts of Scotland. Its chief value is its infusibility, and though it possesses little consistency, it was by the ancients woven into garments, towels, and handkerchiefs, and has in later times become useful as fireproof roofing, flooring, and packing in safes, journal boxes, and around steam pipes. Paper has been made of it, but though at red heat the paper remains uninjured, the writing disappears. As cloth it is desirable, needing only to be thrown into the fire to be cleansed. It is said that Charlemagne had a table cloth of asbestos, which he was wont to throw into the fire at the close of the meal for the amusement of his guests.

HOW TO USE AN INCUBATOR.

Elk Grove, Wis.

Our Curiosity Shop has explained how to make an artificial incubator; how do you use one after it is made?

“I.”

Answer.—Mrs. P. G. Gilman, Paola, Kan.; Mrs. L. R. Stanley, Cameron, Neb.; C. D., Kalamazoo, Mich., make substantially the same inquiry.

In the first place be sure to get fresh eggs, which have not been chilled to death in the nest, and sort out all unfertile ones. After the eggs have been in the incubator two, or at most three days, you can tell every egg that is not fertile. By placing the small end to the eye, looking toward the sun, and moving the head up and down, you will see a dark spot floating on the top of every fertile egg. Any egg that remains perfectly clear after being in the incubator until the fourth day may as well be taken out for use or for market, since it will never hatch. Some persons recommend the use of a cheap egg-tester, which can be got by writing to the Secretary of the National American Poultry Association, New Concord, Ohio, but others think this is not needed. The eggs must be kept at a regular heat of between 102 and 105 degs. After the third day take out the egg-drawer once a day and let the eggs cool down to about 70 or 80 degs., but not below 65 degs. Turn the eggs every four or five hours during the day, by moving the muslin frame on which the eggs rest backward or forward a couple of inches, as indicated in the instructions for making the incubator. It is all done in a trice; it will be well to do this once during the night, and see that the temperature is up to proper grade. Be careful that it does not rise above 105 degs., as there is even more danger of killing the eggs by over-heating than by letting the temperature run a little low. After the third day set two or more soup-plates or tin pie-pans on the sawdust in the ventilator, under the eggs to moisten them; and from the ninth to the twelfth day sprinkle a little tepid water on the eggs by hand, in addition to the evaporation from the water in the pans. From the twelfth to the fifteenth day hand-sprinkle them twice a day, and thereafter three times a day until they hatch. The water acts on the lime of the shells to make it brittle. Perhaps it is best not to have any fire in the incubator-room, which may be a cellar, wood shed, or unoccupied room in the house. A writer in the American Agriculturist says: “If any one doubts that pine sawdust in an incubator will kill his eggs let him try it.” There may be something in this warning, but it is doubtful. Study your lamps to learn about how high to turn the wicks, in order to keep the temperature just right, and observe the thermometers in the front and back of your egg drawer frequently. See that the escape pipes in the heater do not slip down so close to the zinc as to check the draft. Better keep them from one to two inches above the zinc. Keep the ventilators open.

When the eggs are hatched keep the chicks in the incubator till dried, anywhere from twelve to eighteen hours, but not longer. Put them in the brooder, or “artificial mother,” which will be described hereafter. Give them their first food when they are about 18 or 20 hours old. Use bread crumbs wet with milk, or corn meal thoroughly soaked, or hard-boiled eggs, and feed regularly at intervals of three or four hours from 5 o’clock a. m. to 9 o’clock p. m. Do not over-feed; give them only what they will eat clean. When old enough give them dry grain.

CERTAIN LUMBER GRADES.

Dows, Iowa.

Please give the inspection rules for grading flooring, fence-boards, siding, and six-inch, half-round, live cedar posts.

H. H. Oberton.

Answer.—There are different inspection rules at nearly all the great centers of the lumber trade. There are the “Albany Inspection,” governing the lumber product of Northern New York, the “Maine survey,” the “Boston inspection,” the “Saginaw inspection,” the “Chicago cargo inspection,” “Chicago yard grading,” “St. Louis inspection,” “Minneapolis inspection,” and several others. The differences at the several Western centers do not differ very greatly. The following grading is according to the rules of Chicago yard grading:

Flooring—A, or firsts, should have one face nearly clear, with but one or two small, sound knots; the other side may have more knots or sap. B, or seconds, may have two to four sound, medium knots, and bright sap equal to 1 or 1¼ inches width. C, or thirds, will allow of three to six small, sound knots, or 1½ to 2 inches of bright sap.

Fencing flooring is good common flooring from selected fence boards, and may have a large number of small, sound knots, but the general character of the piece must be such as to make a good, tight floor, practically free from “shake” and loose knots.

Fencing—No. 1, or common, contains sound knots only, not to weaken the piece, and may have considerable sap, bright, dull, or stained. No. 2 contains black sap, coarse knots, and boards shaky or otherwise defective, provided they are not unfit for coarse fencing.

Strips and Siding—First and second clear, No. 1, must be perfect in thickness, width, and quality, as clear lumber, free from knots and sap. No. 2 will admit of a narrow, bright sap on one side, or one or two knots. A, or first common, if free from knots, may have two or three small sound knots, or bright sap, one-half or three-quarters of an inch wide. B, or second common, may have three or four medium-sized sound knots, or bright sap of 1 to 1½ inches wide. C, or third common, may have two to six medium knots, 2 to 3 inches of sap, or both sap and knots to equal these. Six-inch half-round live cedar posts must be of trees alive when felled, free from rot or decay of any kind, and not less than six inches at small end.

The St. Louis inspection rules for white pine lumber are almost identical with those of Chicago. Minneapolis rules allow 1 inch sap and three small knots, but no other imperfections in first flooring; six small knots and 1½-inch sap in second flooring; 1-inch sap on thin edge, but no other imperfections in first siding, dressed; three small knots and 1-inch sap on either side in second siding. Grading in the Upper Mississippi River towns is influenced strongly by the Minneapolis rules.

HOMESTEAD RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

Fort Collins, Col.

1. Does the homestead law allow single men and women to leave their claims to earn their living? 2. If a woman holding land under the homestead and timber-culture laws marries a man holding land in the same way, does she forfeit her right to either claim?

M. Soper.

Answer.—A single woman who makes a homestead or timber-culture entry, or both, does not forfeit her rights by marriage, provided the requirements as to residence and cultivation are complied with; but if a single woman marry after filing her declaratory statement under the pre-emption laws, she abandons her rights as a pre-emptor. A party, while having an actual residence on his or her claim, may work elsewhere for other people a few weeks at a time.

BLACK LETTER BOOKS.

Precept, Neb.

1. I saw an account of a black letter Bible recently and should like to know the reason for its value. 2. Please explain the expression “court in banc.”

Constant Reader.

Answer.—The type commonly known in this country as black letter, or Gothic, was the first used in printing, being a copy of the letters used in Germany and the Netherlands during the fifteenth century. In the next century the Gothic style was superseded by the Roman. Books in black letter are highly prized because of their antiquity and rarity. 2. The meaning is that all of the judges of the court in question hear and decide the case: that is, occupy the “banc,” or bench, together.

BIBLE QUESTIONS.

Chicago, Ill.

1. How many days were the Israelites in gathering manna? 2. How many furlongs is Bethany from Jerusalem?

A. Lewis.

Answer.—In Exodus, xvi., we read that for forty years the children of Israel gathered manna daily, excepting the seventh or Sabbath, a double allowance being granted on the sixth day. 2. The distance is three miles or twenty-four furlongs.

MRS. MARY ASHTON LIVERMORE.

Oxford, Ind.

Please give a short biography of Mrs. Mary Livermore.

John Morgan.

Answer.—Mrs. Mary Ashton Livermore, the popular platform orator and reformer, is the daughter of Timothy Rice. Esq. She was born in Boston in 1821, educated in the Baptist Seminary for Girls at Charlestown, Mass., where she gave brilliant promise of a useful future. She married the Rev. D. P. Livermore, of the Universalist Church, and assisted him in editing a paper of this denomination in Chicago. She was in this city during the late civil war and took a prominent part in the various movements to ameliorate the sufferings of soldiers on the field, in hospitals and prisons. She was an ever active, devoted and most efficient worker in the cause of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, and was one of the ablest associates of that eminent philanthropist, Mrs. A. C. Hoge, in the organization and marvelous success of the Chicago Sanitary Fair near the close of the war. She is now undoubtedly one of the ablest leaders in the cause of woman, in the various movements of the times. An eloquent speaker, a brilliant and powerful writer, a remarkable organizer and parliamentarian, she never fails to command respect and carry a strong influence. She is one of the associate editors of the Boston Woman’s Journal, and is recognized as one of the most eloquent lecturers in the cause of temperance, woman suffrage, and other social reforms.

POINTS IN THE ROAD LAW.

Somonauk, Ill.

1. The law of Illinois says that any one who forbids or hinders a person while he is working on the public road shall be fined $2. I quote from memory. Who should make the complaint and before what court? 2. What rights, exclusively his own, has a man to one-half of the road adjoining his farm, and what rights have the public?

Amasa C. Lord.

Answer.—Section 33 of chapter on roads and bridges, Revised Statutes, says: “If any person, after appearing (to work on the roads), remain idle, or do not work faithfully, or hinder others from working, such offender shall, for every offense, forfeit to the town the sum of $2.” It is the duty of the overseer of highways to make the complaint, in case of a violation of this law, before a justice of the peace. 2. In case of the vacation of a road, the title to the land reverts to the original owner, his heirs, assigns, or grantees. If the roadway was condemned for highway purposes, and damages for public appropriation of the same paid to the owner, several nice legal questions would be likely to arise in case of vacation of the road. When land has been given or legally taken for a highway, the abutting owner has the right to insist that it shall be used for no other purpose. The tree-culture laws of most States give him the right to plant trees along it, subject, however, to State, county, and town regulations. These can hardly be called “exclusive rights;” it can scarcely be said that he has any such, so long as the land is used as a highway; but the public have no right to use it for any other purpose, or do anything therewith inconsistent with such use.

FIELD MARSHAL SCHWERIN.

Fairmont, Neb.

Who was “Field Marshal Schwerin”?

W. P. Jacks.

Answer.—He was a distinguished military commander, born in Swedish Pomerania, in 1684. His full designation is Count Kurt Christian von Schwerin. He entered the Dutch army as ensign when only 16 years of age, fought under the famous Prince Eugene and the great Marlborough against the French in the “War of the Spanish Succession,” and subsequently entered the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia. He won the decisive victory over the Austrians at Mollwitz in 1741 which resulted in the cession of Silesia to Prussia; and Frederick signalized his admiration of the great captain by conferring on him the title of Count and making him a Field Marshal. He fell in battle before Prague in 1757, during the Seven Years War, better known to Americans as the French and Indian war, which was a part of the same general war.

CANADIAN TARIFF ON BRITISH GOODS.

Chicago, Ill.

Does Canada collect import duties on goods that are received from England?

A Constant Reader.

Answer.—The Canadians did not wait long after securing their virtual commercial independence, through the establishment of the present Dominion Government, before resolving to foster home manufactures by means of a tariff which should serve the double purpose of public revenue and protection to home industry. This tariff by no means exempts goods of British manufacture; indeed, such goods pay much the larger share of the total duty, as is shown in the following table, stating the value of goods entered for consumption in the Dominion of Canada, that paid duty, the countries whence imported, and the amount of duty collected thereon during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882:

	Dutiable	Free	Duty
COUNTRIES.	goods.	goods.	collected.
Great Britain	$41,459,730	$9,137,611	$10,011,811.00
Brit. W. Indies	1,765,024	83,700	662,514.52
Brit. Guiana	198,979	4,379	117,655.12
Brit. E. Indies	61,403	12,279	24,774.20
Australia	1,895	262	519.36
British Africa		204,745
Total British	$43,487,031	$9,442,916	$10,817,274.20
United States	32,941,061	15,347,991	7,073,912.49
France	1,988,698	108,660	742,774.93
Germany	1,331,271	148,733	338,691.39
Span. W. Indies	2,122,373	13,795	943,791.41
Brazil	1,068,876	259,440	491,556.26
All other countries	2,818,123	1,569,959	1,292,016.95
Grand total	$85,757,133	$26,891,494	$21,700,027.63

From which it appears that Canada collects over a half more duties from British goods than she does from American goods, while the total value of her imports from the United States is over six millions greater than that of her British imports.

TELEPHONING.

Aledo, Ill.

How is the telephone operated in the city of Chicago? Give an illustration of how messages are conveyed by telephone. Is electricity used on all telephone instruments? Does each person having an instrument have a separate wire at the central office?

S. Grady.

Answer.—In telegraphy the wire between stations is a magnet only so long as the electrical current is passing over it, which is the case so long as the wire is connected with the battery. This connection is made or broken by means of a small lever under the finger of the operator at the transmitting station, known as the transmitting key. While the current is on and the wire is a magnet it attracts to itself a piece of soft iron at the receiving station, known in the Morse writing telegraph as the recording style. The instant the connection between the battery and the wire is broken the latter ceases to be a magnet, and the soft iron at the receiving station springs back to its old place. By this means every movement of the transmitting key is instantly repeated at the receiving station. In the telephone two thin metallic plates or diaphragms are substituted for the key and the soft iron recording style. The undulations of the air produced by the voice of the speaker cause the thin plate in the transmitting instrument to vibrate more or less violently, in harmony with the voice. This plate is so connected with the wires running between the battery and the receiving station that the electrical current over the circuit is entirely closed or broken, or varied in intensity, according to the degree of vibration, while the receiving plate, at the other end of the wire, vibrates in unison with the transmitting plate, reproducing undulations in the air at that end of the wire directly corresponding with the undulations made by the voice of the speaker—that is, reproducing the sounds of his voice. Electricity is used in all telephones of any practical value. In Chicago the main wires and the branches from the down-town offices center at a common office, known as the central station, where, by means of couplings made by the movement of certain keys, separate wires are instantly joined or disconnected. Any one wishing to communicate by telephone turns a small crank, which rings a bell at the central office. The operator at the latter place responds by signal. The person who wishes to communicate generally inquires, “Is this the central office?” Having received an affirmative reply, he requests to be put into communication with the number in the telephone register corresponding to the office or residence of the person with whom he wishes to speak. He may now sit down until signaled that some one at the place called for is ready to communicate with him, or the operator at the central office notifies him that he can get no response from the number called for. Besides the main central office there is a district center in each of the principal divisions of the city, North, West, and South, all under the control of the former. It is not necessary for a separate wire to run from each instrument in the city directly to one of these centers. Several individual wires may unite with one common wire before reaching either the central office or a district center.

THE ALHAMBRA—MUNICH.

Marengo, Ill.

1. Will you please give me some information respecting the Alhambra? 2. For what is the city of Munich celebrated?

Ray.

Answer.—1. The Alhambra is the fortress of Grenada, within which is the ancient palace of the Moorish kings. The most of it was built between 1248 and 1354, and though defaced and ruined, the wonderful beauty and skill of its workmanship is still apparent. It is one of the finest examples of Moorish architecture, remarkable for peculiar grace and delicate elaboration. It stands on a terraced hill north of Grenada and overlooking the city, surrounded by a strong wall, nearly a mile in circumference, studded with towers. Passing through the Gate of Pomegranates and the neglected gardens, the visitor finds himself surrounded by beautiful arches and open courts, all leading to the chief object of attraction, the Moorish palace. Though severely plain upon the exterior, within it is exquisitely beautiful, with floors of the choicest marbles, “fretted ceilings, partitions colored and gilt, and filigree stuccos of veil-like transparency.” Slender columns support the galleries, and gracefully bending palm leaves of marble form the arches, while beautiful fountains are scattered here and there. Besides the halls, courts, reception rooms, and sleeping apartments, the building contains a whispering gallery, a labyrinth, and vaulted sepulchers. After the expulsion of the Moors from Spain their conquerors took pleasure in defacing and destroying their works of art, and the Alhambra was remodeled and partly blocked up. In 1812 the French blew up a portion of it, and in 1821 it was shaken by an earthquake. Attempts have been made to restore it, but the sums of money contributed have been too small to accomplish much. 2. Munich is noted for the variety and elegance of its architecture, for its schools of art and music, and for possessing a larger and more valuable collection of art treasures than any other city in Germany. Nearly all its magnificence in architectural splendor and elegance, sculpture, painting, and music, date from the reign of Ludwig I., who ascended the throne in 1825 and during his reign spent nearly 7,000,000 thalers in the embellishment of his capital.

NAVY STATISTICS OF 1865.

Waukegan, Ill.

1. What was the increase of the United States navy during the civil war? 2. How many naval officers deserted to the Confederate cause?

Constant Reader.

Answer.—1. According to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, for 1865, there were at the outbreak of the war 7,600 men in the United States navy, and at its close there were 51,500. The force in the navy yards increased from 3,844 to 16,880. This latter was exclusive of about an equal number employed in private ship yards under contracts with the government. During the war 208 vessels were commenced for the navy and most of them completed; and 418 vessels were purchased (of which 313 were steamers), at a cost of $18,366,681.83; and of these 340 vessels were sold during and immediately subsequent to the war, for $5,621,800.27. 2. There were 322 commissioned officers of the navy who “traitorously abandoned the service” at the beginning of the conflict.

ARKANSAS.

Minneapolis, Minn.

Please give a description of Arkansas and Washington Territory, climate, price of cattle, horses, sheep, and farm products. 2. Which is best adapted to Northerners?

A. H. Chase.

Answer.—A description of Washington Territory was given in answer to another subscriber a week ago. In Arkansas the land gradually rises from the Mississippi westward, reaching its greatest elevation in the Ozark Mountains. Unlike the Eastern portion of the State, which is alluvial in character, the country near these mountains is high and the climate is healthful. Throughout the State the soil along the river “bottoms” is rich and deep, producing large crops of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. The river surface is 540 square miles, and the area covered by lakes and ponds 265 square miles. The temperature varies in the southern part from 20 degrees to 94 degrees; in the north from 10 degrees to 92 degrees. The rainfall in the south is 48-56 inches; in the north 42 inches. Below we give the average prices in Oregon, being unable to obtain them in Washington Territory. In Oregon the average price per bushel of Indian corn is 82 cents; of wheat, 78 cents; rye, 82 cents; oats, 40 cents; potatoes, 59 cents; hay, $12.14; horses, $56.22; milch cows, $21.17; oxen and other cattle, $13.72; sheep, $1.46. In Arkansas corn is 49 cents; wheat, $1.02; rye, 86 cents; oats, 53 cents; potatoes, 74 cents; hay, $11.50; cotton, 10 cents per pound; horses, $49.36; milch cows, $14.56; oxen and other cattle, $10.11, and sheep $1.48. 2. The effects of climate depend largely upon individual peculiarities, but, generally speaking, the heavy rains of Western Washington and the malaria of Eastern Arkansas are about equally injurious. Western Arkansas and the Eastern part of Washington Territory are favorable to consumptives.

DR. KANE, THE EXPLORER.

Normal, Ill.

1. Please give a sketch of the life of Dr. E. K. Kane. 2. Are any members of his expedition still living?

F. A. Walker.

Answer.—1. This celebrated explorer was born in Philadelphia in 1820. When about 25 years of age he visited China, India, and the East Indies as surgeon in the navy, and later traveled through Arabia, Egypt, Greece, and Western Europe. He acted as surgeon, naturalist, and historian to the first Grinnell expedition, in 1850, which led to the discovery of Grinnell Land, and in 1853 himself commanded the second expedition in search of Franklin. Returning home in 1855 he published the account of his travels, and in the following year went to England for his health. Thence he sailed to Cuba, where he died, at Havana, Feb. 16, 1857. 2. Dr. Hayes, who subsequently commanded another American Arctic expedition, died in New York Dec. 17, 1881. Several of the men are still alive.

RESTORING THE FLAG ON FORT SUMTER.

Galveston, Texas.

On what occasion was the flag of Fort Sumter restored to its place, and how?

Subscriber.

Answer.—General Sherman, on his march to join General Grant near Richmond, captured several rebel strongholds, and among them Charleston, which was evacuated by the rebels on Feb. 17, 1865. On April 14, 1865, the identical Union flag which had been hauled down at the time of the surrender, exactly four years before, was formally restored with befitting ceremonies.

THE OLDEST AMERICAN MINE.

Chicago, Ill.

What is the oldest mine of any kind in the United States?

C. D. Adams.

Answer.—It is generally conceded by those who are read up in the history of mining and metallurgy in this country that the oldest mining enterprise of the United States, still active, is the Mine La Motte, in the lead district of Eastern Missouri, opened about 1720 under Renault, of Law’s notorious Mississippi Company. It was named after La Motte, the mineralogist of the expedition. It has been worked at intervals ever since it was opened, and is in successful operation now. There are silver mines in New Mexico and Arizona, some of which may have been opened by the Spanish adventurers of the latter part of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth. Some of these ancient mines were operated by the Toltecs and Aztecs years before the Spanish invasion, but it is not easy to identify them. So there are copper mines in the Lake Superior region in which the tools and mining marks of ancient miners of pre-historic times were found by the pioneers of the present American mining companies. Where the first colonists of Virginia got the ship-load of “fool’s gold” which they sent back to England, to the great disgust of the London company, is not certainly known; but it is known that at the same time, in 1608, they shipped a quantity of iron from Jamestown, which yielded seventeen tons of metal, the first pig iron ever made from American ore. There are diggings in North and South Carolina and Georgia, now overgrown with forests, which are supposed to have been excavated by the followers of De Soto and his immediate successors between 1539 and 1600. The first recorded account of the discovery of coal in the United States is contained in Hennepin’s narrative of his explorations in the West, between 1673 and 1680, when he saw the coal outcrop in the bluffs of the Illinois River, not far from Ottawa and LaSalle; but coal was first mined in the Eastern States in the beginning of this century.

LAWYER PRESIDENTS AND CONGRESSMEN.

Wilmington, Ill.

What per cent of our Presidents and representatives in Congress have been professional lawyers? Is it growing more or less common to elect lawyers to these places?

L. F. Hazelton.

Answer.—Of the Presidents, John Adams, Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Hayes, and Garfield were lawyers; and Arthur was a successful legal practitioner until appointed Collector of the Port of New York by President Grant. Washington was a surveyor until he entered the army. Madison was studying law when elected to the Virginia Convention of 1776, after which he became absorbed in political life. Monroe studied law under Jefferson, but did not really enter the profession, being called off into military and political affairs. Harrison entered military and political life early, and was kept in it most of his days. Taylor and Grant rose to the Chief Magistracy by distinguished military services. Johnson was a tailor until he got into political life. As to Congress, its membership has been too numerous for a full investigation. The proportions indicated below will hold good, in all probability, for the whole of the last or Forty-seventh Congress. The two Senators and six of the eight Representatives from Alabama, both Senators and three of the five Representatives from South Carolina, one Senator and seven of the nine Congressmen from Virginia, both Senators and all the four Representatives of Arkansas, in that Congress were lawyers, or, at least, had been admitted to the bar; so were both Senators and twelve of the nineteen Representatives from Illinois, the two Senators and six of the nine Representatives from Iowa, both Senators and eight of the eleven Representatives of Massachusetts, one Senator and sixteen of the thirty-three Representatives of Pennsylvania. The South is more given to the practice of choosing lawyers, or persons with a smattering of the law, to represent them in Congress and the Legislature than the North. Planters, who never seriously expected their sons to practice, educated them in the law formerly, as one of the qualifications for political life. The olden prestige of the law as one of the learned professions, and the one that led most directly to political promotions, had its influence on the sons of the wealthy and their sires, not in the South only, but in the North; nor on them only, but on the people. There is some rational force also in the popular conception that lawyers are or should be peculiarly fitted to be law-makers. The tendency in the North for some years past, as indicated by the above statistics, is to choose fewer lawyers and have commerce and the great industries of the country represented by their conspicuous leaders.

SCHOOLS FOR THE COLORED RACE.

Gonzales, Texas.

How many institutions of learning for the colored race are there in the United States, and how many persons attending them?

John Crawford.

Answer.—According to the report of the Commissioner of Education, for 1880, the educational institutions for the colored race in the United States were then in number and attendance as follows:

Class of Institutions.	Schools.	Enrolled.
Public schools	17,081	806,106
Normal schools	44	7,408
High schools and academies	36	5,237
Universities and colleges	15	1,717
Schools of theology	22	800
Schools of law	3	33
Schools of medicine	2	87
Schools for deaf, dumb, and blind	2	122
Total	17,205	821,570

Besides this there are a number of colored public schools in States that fail to report them separately from the white schools; and there are many colored children attending the same schools with the whites.

THE WYOMING MASSACRE.

Chicago, Ill.

To settle a dispute, please give the particulars of the massacre of the Wyoming colonists during the revolutionary war, together with the names of the military commanders and Indians, and oblige

A Constant Reader.

Answer.—In the summer of 1778 the beautiful valley of Wyoming, Penn., was invaded by a band of tories and Indians, and in the battle that followed, on July 3, the American patriots, commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, were defeated with horrible slaughter. Then followed a general massacre, which some escaped by fleeing to the mountains, while a few took refuge in Fort Forty (now Wilkesbarre). This fort was besieged the morning of the 4th by the tories and Indians under Colonel John Butler, and ordered to surrender; and being without any means of defense, Colonel Dennison yielded to the entreaties of the women and children to enter into articles of capitulation. It was agreed upon the surrender of their arms, and the destruction of the fort, the inhabitants of the valley should return peaceably to their homes, but no sooner was the fort surrendered than the Indians fell upon the houses, which they plundered and burned, killing all the women and children who had not escaped to the mountains. The entire village of Wilkesbarre was burned to the ground.

THE ILLINOIS BLACK LAWS.

Western Springs, Ill.

What were the “black laws” of Illinois?

J.L. Wells.

Answer.—Under the Territorial laws of Illinois persons were allowed to bring slaves into the Territory under the name of indentured servants. As such they might be held in bondage for a term of ninety-nine years or less. This was in direct violation of the spirit of the ordinance of 1787, which interdicted slavery or involuntary servitude in all the territory north of the Ohio River. The first State constitution, adopted in 1818, prohibited the further introduction of slaves, but did not abolish this species of slavery by liberating the victims of the barbarous Territorial enactments. Thus slavery existed in Illinois in defiance of the ordinance of 1787 until the adoption of the constitution of 1848, which contained the following provision: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this State, except as a punishment for crime.” After the adoption of the constitution of 1818, the first Legislature re-enacted the wicked law “respecting free negroes, mulattoes, servants, and slaves” of Territorial times. No severer law was to be found in any slave State. It forbade negroes or mulattoes to settle in the State without certificates of freedom. No person was to employ any negro or mulatto without such certificate, under a penalty of $1.50 for each day. To harbor any slave or servant, or hinder the owner in retaking a slave, was made a felony, punishable by restitution or a fine of two-fold value, and whipping not to exceed thirty stripes. Every black or mulatto without a proper certificate was subject to arrest as a runaway slave, to be advertised for six weeks by the sheriff, when, if not reclaimed or his freedom established, he was sold for one year, after which he was entitled to a freedom certificate. Any slave or servant found ten miles from home without permit was liable to arrest and thirty-five stripes, on the order of a justice. For misbehaving to his master or family he was punishable with the lash. Indeed, punishment with the lash to the number of thirty-nine and forty stripes was prescribed for each of a long list of offenses, real or of legal construction. Even after the adoption of the constitution of 1848, which required the General Assembly at its first session to pass such laws as would effectually prohibit free persons of color from immigrating to, or settling in this State, and prohibit the owners of slaves from bringing them here for the purpose of setting them free, the Legislature passed an act, Feb. 12, 1853, which imposed on every such colored person a fine of $50. If the fine was not paid forthwith, he was to be advertised and sold to any one who would pay the fine and costs for the shortest period of such person’s service. A case under this law was carried up to the Supreme Court, and decided so late as 1864, to be valid. Other provisions of these enactments were almost equally detestable. Such were the infamous “black laws” of Illinois, which were continued, with slight modifications, from Territorial times down to 1865, when by act of Feb. 7, of that year, they were repealed. Had it not been for these black laws the census of Illinois would not be blotted with an enrollment of “168 slaves” in 1810; 917 in 1820; 747 in 1830; and 331 in 1840—the last census that carries such a stain. Fortunately, the masters and people at large were better than their laws. The horrors of Southern slavery would not have been tolerated here. During the last twenty-five years of their existence the black laws were practically a dead letter, being retained upon the statute book more out of opposition to abolitionism, and deference to the pro-slavery sentiment of the dominant parties than for any other reason.

FIRST EXPLORERS OF THE FAR WEST.

Kill Creek, Kan.

Is it a fact that early French explorers were the first to cross the continent through the northern part of what is now the United States?

Samuel Ritter.

Answer.—No French explorers, known as explorers, traveled farther West than Minnesota, but doubtless the French trappers reached the head waters of the Missouri, if they did not go even farther. These, however, have left no record of their wanderings, and we know nothing of what they discovered. To Lewis and Clarke who in 1804-5 ascended to the head waters of the Missouri and descended the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, belongs the honor of having given the first written account of the far West.

PENNSYLVANIA WHISKY WAR.

Prairie City, Ill.

Did the distillers of Pennsylvania at one time create an insurrection on account of certain excise laws? If so, please state the facts, and what means was used by the government to quell the disturbance?

S. T. Young.

Answer.—In 1791 a tax was imposed upon domestic liquors. This created especial dissatisfaction in Western Pennsylvania, where, in 1794, the distillers rose en masse and refused to pay the duty. But upon the approach of militia sent by Washington, they yielded.

GAY-LUSSAC—BALLOONS.

Pawnee Rock, Kan.

1. Who was Gay-Lussac? 2. Who invented balloons? 3. Why was Sir Walter Raleigh executed?

Stephen J. Willard.

Answer.—Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac was one of the most eminent chemists of this century. He was born at St. Leonard, France, Dec. 6, 1778. He distinguished himself as a student in the Polytechnic College, Paris, and was selected to become the assistant of the great French physicist and chemist, Berthollet, who was so impressed with his originality and skill in research that on a certain occasion he exclaimed: “Young man, it is your destiny to make discoveries. You shall be henceforth my companion. I wish—it is a title of which I am sure I shall have cause to be proud—I wish to be your father in science.” While investigating terrestrial magnetism he was led to make a balloon ascent, on Aug. 24, 1804, when he reached an altitude of about 13,000 feet. Not satisfied, he procured a greater balloon, and on Sept. 16 of the same year rose to an altitude of 23,000 feet, a height never before reached in a balloon, and seldom exceeded since then. He made many valuable observations before descending. Together with the famous Alexander von Humboldt, he made the discovery that hydrogen and oxygen unite in the proportions of two of the latter to one of the former, by bulk, to form water; also that when gases combine with one another, either by weight or by volume, they do so in very simple proportions, as 1 to 1, 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and so on. He analyzed many chemical compounds, proved the elementary nature of several substances, such as iodine, to which he gave the name it now bears, and he formed by chemical combinations many valuable compounds. The French Academy elected him a member of that distinguished body of savants; the French Government honored him with important and highly honorable appointments; he became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1831, and in 1839 was made a peer of the realm. He devoted himself to scientific research to the last, and was associated with the distinguished scientist Arago, in the editorship of the Annals of Chemistry and Physics. He died in 1850. 2. Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier, of Annonay, France, a town about forty miles from Lyons, were the inventors of hot air balloons, just one hundred years ago, and the same year two brothers of the name of Robert made and charged the first hydrogen gas balloon, under the superintendence of Mr. Charles, a professor of natural philosophy, in Paris. 3. Sir Walter Raleigh was executed under a trumped up charge of conspiracy against the life of James I., of England; but really at the instigation of certain rivals and to gratify the king of Spain, toward whom he had always manifested the greatest hostility.

QUARTER SECTIONS, SHORT OR LONG.

Orleans, Neb.

There is a case in dispute here in regard to the government survey. They say that the government surveyor who ran the section lines here started at the Kansas line from the wrong corner, and, running north, made one tier of sections fifteen or twenty rods too narrow and the next tier as much too broad. Now, after twenty years, when the land is all occupied and more or less improved, can the line be moved? All the old corners are plainly defined and recognized as government corners.

B. F. Polhumus.

Answer.—In the case of Peder O. Aanrud (see Copp’s Land Owner) the Commissioner of the General Land Office made the following ruling: “The term ‘quarter-section’ is used to designate a certain legal subdivision of the public land ascertained by official survey. It generally contains just 160 acres; but, through unavoidable inaccuracy of surveys in adjusting meridians etc., it often exceeds or falls below that amount. It is still, however, the technical legal quarter section defined by law and ascertained by official survey. A homestead settler may enter 160 acres in legal subdivisions lying contiguous to each other without reference to the quarter-section lines, or he may enter a technical quarter-section as such, in which case he can take the amount of land contained therein, as shown by the official survey. In entering a quarter section he cannot depart from the ascertained lines, but must take 160 acres, more or less, as the case may be.” The case stated in this question is extraordinary, and may not be fully covered by the above ruling, but it is almost certain that in all cases where patents have issued and owners have been in undisturbed possession for sixteen years or more the titles cannot be disturbed.

ATCHISON, THE BORDER RUFFIAN SENATOR.

Tiskilwa, Ill.

Kindly inform us who Dave Atchison, of Kansas and Missouri notoriety, was.

G. S. Battery.

Answer.—He was a politician of the desperado order, who figured in an unenviable light in the early days of Kansas. Born in Fayette County, Ky., in 1807, he removed to Missouri in 1830. In 1841 he was appointed by the Governor to fill an unexpired term in the United States Senate, of which, through re-election, he continued a member until 1855. For some time he acted with the Benton wing of the Democratic party, which accepted the Jacksonian doctrine as opposed to pro-slavery radicalism. In time, however, he adopted Calhounism, including the doctrine of secession, and during the early Kansas troubles devoted himself to making Kansas a slave State. In 1854-56 he encouraged and abetted the outrages committed by the bands of Missouri border ruffians, who repeatedly invaded that Territory, taking an active part in driving free-soil voters from the polls and instigating the bloody attacks on Lawrence and Ossawatamie, and in other villainies of those terrible times preceding the triumph of the Free State party in Kansas.

MURDERS AND SUICIDES.

Melrose, Wis.

Give, if you can, the number of murders and suicides in the United States in the course of a year.

Ira Jones.

Answer.—According to the census for 1880 there were 1,336 cases of homicide, or murder, and manslaughter, and 2,517 cases of suicide, of which 472 were by self-shooting, 155 by drowning, 340 by poison, 1,550 by other means.

RAINFALL IN NEBRASKA.

Van Cleve, Iowa.

What part of Nebraska has the greatest rainfall? What parts have the second and the third largest average rainfall? In what month is this fall the greatest?

J. W. Johnson.

Answer.—During the ten years from 1869 to 1879 the average annual rainfall in that part of Nebraska lying between the Missouri River and a line drawn to where Blue River crosses the Kansas-Nebraska Line, was thirty-eight inches. In the extreme southeastern corner of the State, near the Missouri River, it was nearly forty inches. West of the line above described to a line starting from the Missouri River a little south of the mouth of Bow River, running with a slight eastern curve to Kearney and then southwesterly to the State line, the average rainfall was thirty-two inches. From this last line to another starting near the mouth of the Niobrara, curving southwesterly to a point a little east of North Platte, and thence curving slightly to the southwest to a point a little west of Culbertson, the rainfall averaged twenty-six inches. Between this last line and another starting on the State line at the mouth of the Keya Paha and running southwesterly to a point on the Kansas-Nebraska line, midway between Culbertson and the southwest corner of the State, the average was nineteen inches. West of this section the rainfall is not well determined, but it diminishes from nineteen to less than seventeen inches. The heaviest rainfall is in June.

THE SIRENS.

I have an engraving representing a lady about to go into a boat, or a sailor about to land. It is entitled, “The Siren.” What is the story?

Bachelor.

Answer.—Among the old Greek legends is one that near the island of Caprera, in the Mediterranean Sea, there dwelt two—some versions say three—damsels whose music was so sweet that no one who heard it could resist its seductive charms. The passing sailor, listening to it, forgot his country, home, and all former friends, and, unable to escape the entrancement of their songs, remained on the barren rocks until he died of starvation. It is further related that Ulysses, one of the most crafty of the Greek heroes of the olden time, by the advice of Circe, filled his sailors’ ears with wax before passing the rock and had them lash him to the mast until the danger was passed. When he heard the music he struggled hard to free himself and escape to the rock, but his companions only bound him the more firmly until their ship had passed out of hearing, whereupon the fated sisters hurled themselves into the deep and were changed into two great rocks. The whole legend may be regarded as an allegory, the sirens personifying seductive pleasures.

THE FIVE POINTS IN CALVINISM.

Michigan City, Ind.

What are the “Five Points” considered essential to pure Calvinism? Did not the Pan-Presbyterian Council held at Philadelphia a few years ago indorse them all?

Freemason.

Answer.—The “Five Points” in the confession of the Synod of Dort, generally regarded as the essentials of Calvinism, are the following doctrines: 1. Predestination; 2. The atonement; 3. The total depravity of the natural man; 4. That salvation is purely of the grace and free will of God; 5. The final perseverance of all who have once experienced justification by faith. For a more extended presentation of these five points see Our Curiosity Shop for 1881, page 91. These doctrines are differently construed by Presbyterian divines; so that in fact they are held in quite different senses by organizations usually classed together as Calvinists. The Pan-Presbyterian Council recognized the rights of the several bodies represented in it to construe the Scriptures as regards these doctrines according to their own judgments so long as they subscribed to the general declarations of the Westminster Confession of Faith, or the confession of the Synod of Dort.

CLAUDE DE BONNEVAL.

Kill Creek, Kan.

Please sketch briefly the career of Claude de Bonneval.

Samuel Ritter.

Answer.—Count Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, born at Limousin, France, began his eventful career as a soldier in the French army, but being condemned to death for insolence toward the Minister of War, provoked by being refused promotion, on account of bad conduct, he fled to Germany. He entered the Austrian army, and in 1723 was appointed Master of Ordnance to the Netherlands. But he became involved in a disgraceful quarrel with the Governor, and was sentenced to death. The sentence was, however, commuted to a year’s imprisonment. Upon his release he went to Constantinople, and under the name of Achmed he entered the service of the Porte, who made him Pasha, and gave into his hands the organizing of the artillery after the European manner. In the Turco-Russian war he achieved great success, and won the appointment of Governor of Chios, but soon lost the position through his imprudence. His death occurred at Constantinople in 1747.

TO FIND THE DAY OF THE WEEK.

Bath, Ohio.

I am puzzled. Please give me a rule for ascertaining the day of the week on which any day of the year comes.

Seliva Q. Yolvare.

Answer.—To find the day of the week on which any particular date of the current year will fall, divide the whole number of days from the time when computation is made by 7. If there is no remainder the day sought will be the same day of the week as the day when the computation is made. If there is a remainder of one it is the next day of the week, and so on. Illustration: Suppose it is Monday, July 9, and the question is, what day of the week will Aug. 10 be, proceed as follows: In July after July 9 there are 22 days. Add 10 days in August, making 32 days. Divide 32 by 7, and the quotient is 4 and 4 remainder. Now July 9 was Monday, so Aug. 10 will be the fourth day of the week after Monday, or Friday. To find the day of the week for dates in other years than the current one is a much more serious matter. It involves many elements, and is, withal, an arithmetical problem, and therefore excluded from Our Curiosity Shop by one of its standing rules. There are tables for this class of questions, as explained in an answer given not long ago.

SUPPORT OF PAUPER RELATIVES.

Longmont, Col.

What States, if any, require persons to support their pauper parents and other near relatives?

C. Watson Brown.

Answer.—The statutes of Illinois require “that every poor person who shall be unable to earn a livelihood in consequence of any bodily infirmity, idiocy, lunacy, or other unavoidable cause, shall be supported by the father, grandfather, mother, grandmother, children, grandchildren, brothers or sisters of such person, if they, or either of them, be of sufficient ability; provided that when persons become paupers from intemperance or other bad conduct they shall not be entitled to support from any relative except parent or child.” These relatives are to be called on in the following order: Children are to be first called on for parents, if the children are of sufficient ability, and, if not, then the parents of the poor person; next brothers and sisters; next grandchildren; next grandparents. Married females cannot be required to support their poor relatives unless they have property in their own right. Similar laws exist in most if not all the other States of the Union. Not having the statutes of Colorado at hand, we must refer you to them, at the nearest justice’s office or at the county court house, for definite information as to your own State.

THE FIRST RAILROAD IN ILLINOIS.

Altona, Ill.

In a recent answer in Our Curiosity Shop it was asserted that “a section of the Northern Cross Railroad, from Naples to Springfield, was the first railroad in this State; also, that it was operated by mule power until 1849.” Now let me say: 1. That the road was built from Meredosia toward Jacksonville and Springfield in 1838. [It was begun in 1837, and was opened through to Springfield in 1838—Editor.] 2. A locomotive was shipped by way of the rivers to Meredosia, where it arrived and was placed on the track in November, 1838. I went from Peoria, June 15, 1839, by steamboat to Meredosia, where I saw the locomotive on the new railroad, coupled to a train of cars ready to pull out. A few years later there was a branch constructed from the bluff, four or five miles from Meredosia, to Naples. The road from Naples to Jacksonville and Springfield became the main line, and the spur to Meredosia was regarded as the branch. [The use of steam was very soon abandoned, as the road was operated at a loss, and mule power was resorted to until 1849—Editor.]

A. G. Little.

DU CHAILLU, THE TRAVELER.

Postville, Iowa.

Please give a short sketch of the life of Paul B. Du Chaillu. How is his name pronounced?

Maud Mayo.

Answer..—Du Chaillu, a great African explorer, began his travels when but a boy, with his father. For many years they lived upon the Gaboon River, and in 1855, after spending some years in New York, he returned to Western Africa, where he devoted four years to travel and discovery. During this time he traveled about 8,000 miles on foot, and collected many valuable specimens in natural history. His works contain the result of his study during this and a later expedition, their chief interest and value being due to the account they contain of many hitherto strange tribes, and to his description of the gorilla and many curious apes. Du Chaillu was born in France about 1820. His name is pronounced Du Sha-yu, with accent on second syllable, and sounding a as in far.

SALE OF TOBACCO BY PRODUCER.

Orleans, Ind.

Has Congress changed the internal revenue laws so as to allow the producer to sell to the consumer?

A. N. W.

Answer.—Yes, within a narrow limit: as shown by the following communication from Mr. Milton C. Springer, the efficient and obliging Chief Deputy Internal Revenue Collector of this district, showing changes in the law relating to the sale of leaf tobacco by the producer:

“The law (see section 3.244, United States Revised Statutes, paragraph 7) defines a retail dealer in leaf tobacco as a person whose business it is to sell leaf tobacco in quantities less than an original hogshead, case, or bale; or who sells directly to consumers; or to persons other than dealers in leaf tobacco, who have paid a special tax as such, or to manufacturers of tobacco, snuff, or cigars who have paid a special tax, or to persons who purchase in original packages for export.

“Section 2 of the act of March 3, 1883, provides that on and after May 1, retail dealers in leaf tobacco shall pay two hundred and fifty dollars ($250), and thirty cents for each additional dollar on the amount of their monthly sales, in excess of the rate of five hundred dollars ($500) per annum. Provided that farmers and producers of tobacco may sell at the place of production tobacco of their own growth and raising, at retail directly to consumers to an amount not exceeding $100 annually. This proviso, as in the case of all provisos to general provisions of law, must be construed literally:

“1. The sales must be made at the place of production.

“2. They must be made strictly to consumers and to no other persons.

“3. The tobacco must be of the growth and raising of the farmer or producer who makes the sales.

“4. The sales must be of leaf tobacco in the form and condition of leaf as it is ordinarily dried and cured for the market. If the tobacco is ‘twisted by hand or reduced into a condition to be consumed, or in any manner other than the ordinary mode of drying and curing prepared for sale or consumption, even if prepared without the use of any machine or instrument and without being pressed or sweetened,’ it is liable to a tax of 8 cents a pound. (See section 14, act of March 1, 1879).

“5. If the farmer or producer sells ordinary leaf at retail directly to consumers, as hereinbefore stated, to an amount exceeding $100 annually, he becomes liable to pay a special tax as retail dealer in leaf tobacco. He also becomes liable if he violates any of the conditions of the said proviso, as herein stated.”

RAIN-GAUGE AND TEMPERATURE.

Osborne City, Kan.

1. How should a rain-gauge be set in order to register rainfall correctly? 2. At what hours per day are the observations of thermometer taken to get a mean temperature?

S. B. F.

Answer.—There are different kinds of rain-gauges, and instructions for using accompany each instrument. As a rule the mouth of a rain-gauge is larger than the graduated chamber which measures the fall. For special observations different forms of gauges are used, horizontal, inclined, or vertical. For ordinary observations the mouth of the instrument should be horizontal. Instructions of the United States Signal Service direct observers to set the rain-gauge “whenever practicable, with the top of the funnel-shaped collector twelve inches above the surface of the ground, firmly fixed in a vertical position. When a position at the level of the ground cannot be found with a sufficiently clear exposure, the gauge will be placed on the top of the instrument-room or roof of the building occupied by the observer, who will measure the height above the ground and report it to the Chief Signal Officer. The measuring-rod is graduated in inches and tenths of an inch, and the proportion between the cylinder and funnel is as ten to one, so that ten inches upon the rod correspond to one inch of actual rainfall.” “Snow will be melted and measured, and reported in the same manner as rain. If for any reason it cannot be melted, the depth will be measured, and ten inches of snow reported as one inch of rainfall.” There is a great difference in measure of rain at several elevations above the ground, not wholly explainable. Professor Phillips found the fall of rain at York, England, for the year 1833-34 to be 14.16 inches at 213 feet from the ground; 19.85 inches at 44 feet; and 25.71 on the ground. Daily mean relative humidity observations, according to the United States Signal Service, are obtained by dividing 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p. m. observations by three; the monthly means by dividing the sum of the daily means by the number of the days in the month. 2. The daily mean temperature is obtained by dividing the sum of the 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and twice the 9 p. m. observations by four.

When a rain-gauge is not at hand, a perfectly cylindrical pan or tub may be used to measure the rainfall, but it should be elevated at least a foot above the level lawn or roof.

NEAREST APPROACH TO THE POLE.

Chicago, Ill.

What is the nearest that any explorer has got to the north pole?

Subscriber.

Answer.—The nearest approach to the north pole, 83 degrees 20 minutes 26 seconds was made May 12, 1876, by a sledge party sent off from one of the two vessels of the Nares expedition, fitted out by the British Government. The point is almost exactly half the distance from Chicago to New York City by the shortest railroad route.

OUR BROAD REPUBLIC.

Garden City, Kan.

Has the United States any territory outside of the States and Western Territories, Alaska, and District of Columbia?

E. C. W.

Answer.—No; unless this government should conclude to reduce to possession the lands discovered in the Arctic and Antarctic regions by Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes, Commodore Wilkes, and other American explorers. Several of these bold discoverers planted the American flag in the ice of those inhospitable lands and gave names to coasts and islands of large extent, so situated that if “Uncle Sam” insists on his title he can now boast, with “John Bull,” that the sun never sets on his possessions.

JOHN RUSKIN’S ST. GEORGE’S COMPANY.

Petoskey, Mich.

Be kind enough to give a sketch of the life of John Ruskin. Did he not attempt to found a society or colony on a novel plan and fail of success?

E. I. L.

Answer.—John Ruskin, the eminent English art critic, commenced the publication, in 1871, of a monthly periodical, entitled Fors Clavigera, addressed particularly to workingmen, and urging them to join him in forming an organization to be known as “St. George’s Company,” for the purpose of developing among the working classes a greater love of the beautiful and raising the common standard of architecture and home surroundings in rural life. He protested against “the tyranny and defilement of machinery” in country life. He set apart about $35,000 (£7,000), the tenth of his private fortune, to promote the success of this society, of which he was chosen Grand Master. The workingmen responded but poorly to all his appeals, and the undertaking is regarded as a failure. A sketch of Ruskin’s life is contained in Our Curiosity Shop of 1880, page 85.

AN EXCEPTIONAL VICE PRESIDENT.

Ann Arbor, Mich.

What would be done in case of the failure of the people to elect a Vice President?

A Possible Candidate.

Answer.—Just what was done in the only instance since the adoption of the twelfth amendment to the Constitution when such a failure has occurred. In 1836, no one having received a majority of the votes cast for Vice President, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was chosen by the United States Senate, he being one of the highest on the list of persons voted for by the people.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

Blalock, Ore.

1. What is the present political condition of Central America? 2. Are the States united under one federal government, or are they independent of each other?

W. Marimer.

Answer.—After much civil strife the people are becoming accustomed to republican forms of government, and educational and commercial advantages are increasing; though it must be said that the progress is not rapid. At present the country is quiet. 2. Until 1839 the republics of Central America were united into a confederation; but now each is an independent republic, governed by a president and at least one legislative body, chosen by universal suffrage. As a rule the president is elected for four years, but few have held this office for an entire term. These States consist of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras.

EXPLORERS OE THE SOUTHWEST.

Wichita, Kan.

Our Curiosity Shop has told us of the first American explorers who crossed the Northern part of the United States, now please tell us who were the first Americans to cross the continent on or about the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, or south of that? Name some work on the explorers of the Southwest that is instructive and reliable, but not expensive.

A Subscriber.

Answer.—It was long believed, and is still generally supposed, that, after Lewis and Clarke, General John C. Fremont, then a Captain of Engineers in the United States Army, with a small force, guided by the famous Kit Carson, was the first explorer who crossed the continent within the present boundaries of the United States. This he did in 1843, following much of the way the route afterward adopted by the Union and Central Pacific Railroads. However, Mr. William E. Curtis, in his intensely interesting little book entitled “A Summer Scamper Along the Old Santa Fe Trail, and Through the Gorges to Zion,” shows conclusively that, while the world is indebted to Fremont for the first maps and published descriptions of the country between Central Colorado and the California coast, hunters and trappers had wound their way through these savage wilds years before him, and that as early as Jan. 20, 1824, a bold adventurer by the name of Sylvester Pattie, a Virginian, and his son, with a party of five other men, left the Missouri River in company with a trading party for Santa Fe, and some three years later groped his way down the Gila River into California; where he visited San Francisco, then an insignificant Mexican trading post and Jesuit mission station. Arrested as spies by the jealous Mexicans, and imprisoned, it was some time before these daring adventurers obtained their release and secured a passage from San Diego to Vera Cruz, whence they got back to the United States. “The Summer Scamper” and another book by the same author, “Children of the Sun,” both by The Inter Ocean Publishing Company, are full of spirited sketches of the early explorers of the Southwest, graphic descriptions of the scenery of this wonderful region, and observations on its natural resources and the progress of the civilization which is invading it from all directions.

LIVINGSTONE, THE EXPLORER.

Albia, Iowa.

Please give a brief account of Dr. Livingstone’s life and explorations.

J. H. Rowles.

Answer.—David Livingstone was a Scotchman, born in Lanarkshire in 1817, and when a boy worked in a cotton factory. In 1840 he landed in Port Natal, Africa, as a medical missionary of the London Missionary Society, and became an associate of the Rev. Robert Moffat, whose daughter he afterward married. For sixteen years he labored earnestly in the mission work, and during that time discovered Lake Ngami (1849), and crossed the continent from the Zambesi to Loando, a journey which occupied eighteen months. While in England, in 1857, Livingstone published his “Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.” Returning to Africa he devoted himself to exploration, and in 1865 resolved to find the source of the Nile. During the remainder of his life he was often not heard from for months, and it was during one of these protracted absences that Mr. Stanley began his travels to search for him, and found him in great destitution at Ujiji. Dr. Livingstone died while exploring the river system of the Chambeze in the belief that these were the head waters of the Nile, having reached Ulala, beyond Lake Bemba, in 1873. In 1874 his body was interred in Westminster Abbey.

SUBDIVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT SECTIONS.

Ventura, Mich.

1. In subdividing a township into sections, to what part of the township do the fractional sections belong? 2. Sections sometimes overrun or fall short in the subdivision of quarter sections into “forties” by the County Surveyor: Is this overplus or deficit divided equally among the “forties,” or is it all thrown into one side?

Charles Owens.

Answer.—1. The sections on the northern and western boundaries of a township are fractional—i. e., they do not contain exactly 640 acres. The small fragments of these fractional sections are called “lots,” and they are numbered from 1 upward in each section. 2. The course that surveyors are directed by the regulations of the General Land Office to pursue in the subdivision of sections is to run straight lines from the quarter section corners established by the United States survey to the opposite corresponding corners, and the point of intersection of lines so run will be the common corner to the several quarter sections, or, in other words, the legal center of the section. In the subdivision of fractional sections, where no opposite corresponding corners have been or can be fixed, the subdivision lines should be ascertained by running from the established corners due north, south, east, or west lines, as the case may be, to the water-course, Indian boundary line, or other external boundary of such fractional section. Where the lines marked in the field by the United States Deputy Surveyors are not due north and south or east and west lines, “mean courses” must be adopted. Where there is no opposite section line the subdivision line must be run parallel to the section line that is marked. The purpose is to divide the overplus or deficit arising from the unavoidable irregularities and errors of the United States survey as nearly equal as possible among the minor subdivisions of the section.

TEA, COFFEE, AND WHISKY.

When and by whom were tea, coffee, and whisky first used as a beverage?

H. G. Clayton.

Answer.—The use of tea among the Chinese, from whom it has extended to all parts of the world, cannot be traced with certainty further back than to 350 A. D., or thereabouts. This use did not become general in China until about A. D. 800. It was first introduced into Europe by the Dutch in 1610. How long coffee has been used in Arabia, its native country, is not certainly known. It was introduced into Egypt in the sixteenth century. The first coffee house in Europe was established in Constantinople in 1551. The first person to make it known to Western Europe seems to have been Leonhard Rauwolf, a German physician, a great traveler. Once introduced, the use of this delightful beverage extended rapidly. Coffee houses sprung up in all the chief cities. The first one in London was opened by a Greek in Newman’s court, Cornhill, in 1652; the first one in France was opened in Marseilles in 1671; the first one in Paris in 1672. The earliest manufacture of whisky is generally referred to the middle of the sixteenth century, but there are some reasons for believing that it had an earlier origin. It was made by the Gaels from barley, which still yields the best quality, and was called by them uisge beatha, later usque baugh, the water of life—of which first word “whisky” is a corruption.

CONVICT LABOR.

Rutland, Ill.

If convicts can make a better article than those who are not convicts, why should other mechanics complain? At least, why shouldn’t the public be permitted to utilize the labor of convicts for its own good?

Wm. Marshall.

Answer.—No doubt it is sound policy to make use of convict labor for the public good and the improvement of the criminals themselves, but the real question is, How is this to be done? Manufacturers and honest mechanics complain that the present system of hiring out convicts to contractors puts the labor of the untaxed criminals, housed at the expense of the State, without families to support, and free from all social and civil burdens, in unfair competition with the labor or industrial products of honest workmen who have families to maintain, taxes to pay, and social and civil duties to perform. Whether the contract system can be so adjusted as to remove any just ground of complaint of the nature here pointed out is a question that is eliciting the earnest study of some of our most profound social and political economists. We cannot discuss it in this place, nor have we any dictum to proclaim. It must be said for the system that it is the only one, with few, if any, exceptions, that has rendered American penitentiaries self-sustaining.

MUSHROOM GARDENING.

Chicago, Ill.

Tell us how to raise mushrooms. Are they produced from seed or not?

Answer.—The mushroom spawn is sold in bricks, and should be used in the following manner: Procure a quantity of good horse dung and make it into a heap, which must be frequently turned for a fortnight, until the rankness has disappeared. Then build it into beds twelve inches in height and four feet wide, under a shed ten feet wide. This will allow room for a walk through the center of the shed. Pack the dung tightly, and cover it with long straw for ten days, when the straw must be removed and an inch of fine loam spread upon the beds. On this plant the spawn, which has been broken into pieces the size of a walnut, in rows six inches apart, and cover with another inch of mold, over which spread the straw. When the mold is too dry sprinkle it with tepid water. In five or six weeks the young mushrooms should appear.

BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS.

Ravanna, Mo.

I have a picture entitled “The Battle of the Pyramids.” Where, when, and by whom was that battle fought?

C. E. J.

Answer.—The “Battle of the Pyramids” was fought at Embabeh, opposite Cairo, Egypt, July 21, 1798, between the French, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Egyptian Mamelukes, commanded by Murad Bey. The latter fought with desperate valor, but they were completely bewildered by European tactics. The French infantry, formed into squares, received the fierce charges of the magnificent Mameluke cavalry, which swarmed around them, on their serried bayonets, while a galling fire of grape and musketry virtually annihilated whole divisions of their army. Out of an army of over 60,000 men Murad Bey escaped with barely 2,500 horse, leaving 15,000 men on the field of battle and the rest of his troops, their arms abandoned, fleeing in utter rout in all directions completely disorganized. From the circumstance that this battle was fought within sight of the famous pyramids of Gizeh, near Cairo, it took the name above mentioned.

FIRES OCCASIONED BY LOCOMOTIVES.

Adeline, Ill.

Are railway companies responsible for damage to farm property occasioned by locomotives or must the farmer bear the loss.

Adeline Reader.

Answer.—State laws require railway companies to use certain precautions against fire from locomotive sparks or coals from ash pan. If it can be shown that damage to property has resulted from neglect of these laws or through culpability of railway employes, the company is responsible. The spark extinguishers on locomotive smoke stacks check the draft and on this account engines frequently run considerable distances with them uncovered. Again they often dump panfuls of live coals on the track, when the prairie grass and stubble are like tinder and the wind is blowing a gale. Damage done through such culpability is fairly chargeable to the railway companies, and, if the facts can be proved, they can be made to pay the loss.

SERGEANT MASON’S SENTENCE.

Galt, Mich.

What was Sergeant Mason’s sentence? Please answer and settle a dispute. State main facts.

Subscriber.

Answer.—Sergeant Mason, one of the soldiers detailed to guard Guiteau, fired into his cell on Sept. 12, 1881, with the intention, as he confessed, to kill him. He was tried by court martial early in 1882, and sentenced to be dismissed from the army, with loss of pay, and to be imprisoned for eight years in the Penitentiary at Albany.

AUTHOR OF DYING CALIFORNIAN.

Grand Detour.

Seeing no response to the question as to who is the author of the poem entitled the “Dying Californian,” I wish to say that this poem was written by Kate Harris, of Pascoag, R. I., now Mrs. Charles Plass, of Napa City, Cal. It was suggested by hearing a letter which was dictated by Brown Owens when dying, on his way to California. It was read at his funeral services at Chepachet, R. I.

M. W. Gilman.

THE CHRISTIAN ERA—WHEN FIRST USED.

1. When was the practice of reckoning time from the birth of Christ instituted, and by whom? 2. What nations now reckon time according to this era?

Answer.—Dionysius the Little, a learned monk, introduced the use of this epoch in Italy in the sixth century. It began to be made use of in Gaul and England about two centuries later. It is now followed in nearly all Christian countries and in several Eastern nations.

THE TWELVE CÆSARS.

Saopi, Minn.

Who were the twelve Cæsars?

M. H. Miller.

Answer.—The twelve Cæsars are Julius Cæsar and the eleven Emperors following him, most of whom were from his family. Nerva was chosen by the Senate, and was the first to select a successor without regard to family. Following are the names and dates of the reigns of the twelve: Julius Cæsar, 44; Augustus, 31 B. C.-14 A. D., Tiberius, 14-37; Caius, 37-41; Claudius, 41-54; Nero, 54-68; Galba, 68-69; Otho, 69; Vitellius, 69; Vespasian, 69-79; Titus, 79-81; Domitian, 81-96. The title Cæsar was given to all of the Roman Emperors, until the time of Hadrian, after whom Cæsar was the title of the heir of the throne, and the title of the Emperor was Augustus.

SINKING BRIDGE PIERS.

Freeport, Ill.

Please explain the use of compressed air in sinking the caissons of the great Brooklyn and New York bridge.

F. R. Smith.

Answer.—The method of sinking cylinders by use of compressed air was invented by Mr. Triger, of England, in 1841, but has been carried to greater results in the United States than anywhere else. Tubular cast-iron shells are used to form a large hollow pile, which may be forced downward by its own weight and superincumbent masonry built on it as it descends. Compressed air is employed inside such shells to force the water out at the bottom, where the pile or caisson is open, while it is air-tight and water-tight at all other points. It was formerly supposed men could not work under a pressure of more than three atmospheres, which is required in most cases to keep out water at a depth of sixty-five feet, but in the case of the St. Louis bridge, caissons were sunk a depth of 110 feet below the surface. So, in the case of sinking the Brooklyn bridge piers, the men at work in the compressed air chamber, excavating the earth as the pier descended, worked in an atmosphere from three to four times as heavy as in the open air; a strain which they could endure but a short while at a time, and which proved fatal in many instances.

PROPERTY OF ALIENS.

Griswold, Iowa.

If a Welshman who has not been naturalized dies in this country, who inherits his estate? Would the making of a will make any material difference as to the control of his property?

Flora K. Smith.

Answer.—Each of the States has its own laws in regard to the rights of aliens. In Iowa aliens, that is persons of foreign birth who have not been naturalized by their own act or that of their parents, may acquire, inherit, hold, and dispose of property, real or personal, precisely as if they were citizens. The same is true in most of the States. In Pennsylvania alien friends may buy lands not exceeding 5,000 acres, nor in net annual income $20,000, and hold the same as citizens may, but there are certain differences between them and citizens in the matter of real estate conveyances, inheritance, etc. A will prevents the property of an alien from escheating to the State in case of non-appearance of heirs; and, as in the case of citizens, transcends the statute and common law as to the division of property among the heirs of persons who die intestate, i. e. without testamentary wills.

LAND WARRANTS.

Cove, Oregon.

Is there anything to prevent a person from locating a land warrant on public lands in this State? For what wars were land warrants given, and what are they worth?

James M. Selders.

Answer.—Military bounty land warrants are issued by the Commissioner of Pensions for services in the several wars before the year 1855. No warrants are issued for services during the war for the Union; but soldiers can be credited on homestead entries for the terms of their enlistments, up to four years of the time of residence required as a condition of title in cases of ordinary homesteaders. These warrants call for 40, 60, 80, 120, or 160 acres of land, as the case may be, and being assignable can be located by any purchaser. They should be bought only of responsible dealers, with a written guarantee that, in case of error or defect, the settler will not lose anything thereby. The market price of such warrants is from $1 to $1.20 per acre. There is no reason why these cannot be used in paying for public lands in Oregon as well as in other States or Territories. Applications must be made as in cash cases, but accompanied with a warrant duly assigned as payment for the land. Yet where the land is $2.50 per acre, as the warrant pays only for land at $1.25 per acre, the remaining $1.25 per acre must be paid in cash. However, a tract of eighty acres, rated at $2.50 per acre, for example, can be paid for by two eighty-acre warrants without any cash, except fees chargeable by land officers, as follows: For a forty-acre tract, 50 cents each to Register and Receiver; for sixty acres, 75 cents each; for eighty acres, $1; and so on.

NOON BY CLOCK AND BY SUN-DIAL.

Sun River, M. T.

The following rule will enable any one to determine the true difference between noon by clock-time and noon by the sun-dial or noon-mark; which seems to be a vexing question with some of your correspondents: Rule: From any almanac take the time from sunrise to 12 o’clock and from 12 o’clock to sunset. Half of the difference between the two is the number of minutes which the dial shows wrong, either plus or minus. This is called the equation of time and varies about fifteen minutes either way, at its highest.

John Kerler.

THREE AMERICAN AUTHORESSES.

Englewood, Ill.

Please name the author of “The Lamplighter”—an old book, but a good one—and who wrote “The Wide, Wide World.”

E. O. G.

Answer.—The author of “The Lamplighter” was Maria S. Cummins, born in Massachusetts in 1827; died in 1866. The writer of “The Wide, Wide World,” of which there were 500,000 copies sold in the first ten years, and of “Queechey,” is Susan Warner, born in New York in 1818. Her sister Anna is the popular author of “The Fourth Watch,” “The Other Shore,” and other works published under the pseudonym of “Amy Lathrop.”

BONANZA FARMS—U.S. MARINE.

Pleasant Plains, Ill.

1. Who owns the largest farm in Dakota and how many acres does it contain? Which is the largest in the United States? 2. How many ships has the United States engaged in commerce?

Albin C. Demary.

Answer.-The largest farm in the United States is the estate of the late Dr. Glenn, of California, over 60,000 acres. The largest farm in Dakota is the Grandin Farm, covering about 50,000 acres, and requiring the labor of 150 men at seed time and 250 at harvest. The largest cultivated area under one control is the 28,000 acres farmed by Oliver Dalrymple. 2. June 30, 1880, the shipping of the United States was classified as follows: Sailing vessels, 16,830; steam vessels, 4,717; barges, 1,930, and canal-boats, etc., 1,235; total, 24,712, measuring 4,069,035 tons. In 1882 (June 30) the commercial navy of this country numbered 24,368 vessels, of 4,165,933 tons.

WHERE POSTAL SERVICE IS SELF-SUPPORTING.

Longmont, Col.

In what States is the United States postal service self-supporting.

C. Watson Brown.

Answer.—In Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Alaska, in which States and Territory the excess of receipts over expenditures in the year ending June 30, 1882, amounted to $6,951,696, while the excess of expenditures over receipts in the rest of the Union amounted to $5,114,930, leaving a surplus, for the first time in several years, amounting to $1,836,765.

THOMAS NAST, THE CARICATURIST.

Ashkum, Ill.

Give a short biographical sketch of Thomas Nast, the great “caricaturist.”

C. K. Langley.

Answer.—Thomas Nast is a Bavarian, having been born at Landau, Sept. 27, 1840. At six years of age he came to the United States with his father, and at 15, with six months instruction from Theodore Kaufmann, he began to furnish illustrations for newspapers. His reputation, by the caricatures he made, was won during the civil war.

MAXIMILIAN I.

Urbana, Ill.

Please give me a short biography of Maximilian I., of Germany.

Nettie Ayers.

Answer.—Maximilian I., one of the greatest German Emperors, was born in 1459, and at the age of 19 married Maria, daughter of Charles the Bold. This union led to war with Louis XI. of France, who tried to seize some of Princess Maria’s possessions. In 1486 he was crowned King of the Romans, and in 1493, at the death of his father, Maximilian became Emperor of Germany. Later he married the daughter of the Duke of Milan. He was led to war with the Swiss, Venetians, and French. He died in 1519.

ORPHAN ASYLUMS.

Carthage, Ill.

Is there an asylum for orphan children in Illinois? If so, where is it?

H. L. Rand.

Answer.—The only State orphan asylum in Illinois is the Soldiers Orphans’ Home at Normal. There are several orphan asylums in Chicago and vicinity, sustained by churches or by private benefactions. Among these are the Chicago Protestant Orphan Asylum, 2228 Michigan avenue; Chicago Nursery and Half Orphan Asylum, 855 North Halsted street; German Orphan Asylum, at Rose Hill (Havelock Postoffice); St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, Douglas avenue, corner of Lake; and St. Mary’s Orphan Asylum, 2928 Archer avenue; Uhlich Orphan Asylum. There are others of similar nature in other parts of the State, as the German Evangelical Lutheran Orphan Asylum, at Addison; Orphan Home, Jacksonville; Asylum of St. Casimir for Polish children, LaSalle; Home for the Friendless, Peoria; Woodland Home, Quincy. Besides these there are in Chicago several houses for foundlings.

LANGUAGES AND TONGUES.

Chicago, Ill.

What is the difference between a language and a tongue? How many languages and tongues are now spoken?

J. G. Smith.

Answer.—Language is a term that is applicable to any mode of conveying ideas, whether by speech, writing, hieroglyphics, or a system of gestures or pantomime. Even the deaf and dumb have several languages, but cannot be properly said to have “tongues.” Tongue is an English term for the spoken language of a particular people, as the French tongue, the German tongue, and so on. The number of languages of all the kinds above designated or the number of tongues in all the world is not known. There are over 6,000 known languages and dialects: how many more will be discovered when we have thoroughly explored Africa and Central and Northern Asia is still a matter of conjecture.

AMERICAN VESSELS SOLD.

Sheboygan, Wis.

What proportion of American shipping was sold to foreigners during the civil war? How much was sold last year?

Subscriber.

Answer.—During the four years, 1861 to 1865, inclusive, the tonnage of American vessels sold to foreigners, mainly to escape capture, or because it could not be profitably employed while exposed to war risk, compared with our total merchant marine as follows:

Years.	Total tonnage.	Tons sold.
1861	5,539,813	26,649
1862	5,112,164	117,756
1863	5,155,056	222,199
1864	4,986,400	300,865
1865	1,579,994	133,832
Total tons sold		801,301

As the laws of the United States interdict the re-enrollment of any of these vessels, and restoration of the privileges of our flag, this was a permanent loss to the tonnage of our merchant marine, although it is certain that many of them continued to be the property in fact of American citizens, sailing under foreign colors. The sale of American vessels to foreigners in 1879 amounted to 43,312 tons, and in 1880 to 26,883 tons.

QUEEN VICTORIA’S SURNAME.

Panora, Iowa.

Having noticed in Our Curiosity Shop what is said in regard to the surname of the Queen of England, I send you the following extract from the Whitehall Review on this subject: “At dinner the other night the conversation lapsed, as it sometimes will lapse with the best, into questions hardly distinguishable from conundrums. A celebrated historian was present, and I put a question to him which I know has puzzled a great many people at different times: ‘What is the surname of the royal family?’ ‘Guelph, of course.’ That is the usual answer, and it was the historian’s. I ventured to suggest that although the royal family are Guelphs by descent, her Majesty’s marriage with Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg must have the effect which the marriage of a lady has in all other cases, and that the surname of the present house must be the Prince Consort’s. But what is the surname of the Prince Consort’s family? Simple, but staggering. No one knew. All guessed, and all were wrong. I happened to have looked up the subject a few months ago, so I knew that the name was ‘Wettin.’ Of course no one had heard it before. Every one smiled at the horrible idea of the Guelphs being reduced to Wettins! The point was referred to Theodore Martin. ‘You are quite right,’ said the graceful biographer of the Prince Consort. ‘Wettin is the family name of the house of Saxony, to whom the dominion of Saxony in the year 1420. The king of Saxony and the minor princes of the house are, therefore, all Wettins; or, German, Wettiner.’” [Nevertheless, the fact remains that none of the royal family sign either of the names, Guelph or Wettin, or are addressed by either name in any form of address, oral or written.—Ed.]

Mrs. H. R. Bryan.

NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL WEALTH AND DEBT.

Sioux City, Iowa.

Tell us what is the total public indebtedness of the United States of all kinds, National, State, county, city, township, district, etc. Also what part of the Union, the East, West, or South, owes the most. Finally, give the wealth per capita East, West and South.

Disputant.

Answer.—According to statistics in “The West in 1880,” since confirmed by the census returns, the local indebtedness of the several States (consisting of county, city, town and district debts, bonded and floating) added to State indebtedness, aggregated $1,117,821,671, or $22.28 per capita; and the wealth, measured by the assessed valuation, amounted to $336.89 per capita, distributed by States and Territories as follows:

		Per	Wealth
States and Territories.	Debt.	capita.	per cap.
New Eng. States	$178,654,977	$44.54	$661.27
Mid. States	488,638,655	41.57	473.55
South. States	204,887,805	13.43	155.29
West. States	243,984,183	13.17	333.63
Territories	1,656,051	2.73	211.29
Total	$1,117,821,671	$22.28	$336.89

In some States local indebtedness has diminished since 1880, while in others it has increased. Assuming that the total local indebtedness is about the same, we may add to the above $1,117,821,671, the National debt at close of June 30, 1883, say $1,884,171,728, and it appears that the total public debt of this country is about $3,001,993,399.

PERVERSITY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

Opdyke, Ill.

Seeing that the earth’s diameter at the equator is greater than at the poles, and Lake Itasca is nearer the center of the earth than the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, why isn’t it proper to say that the Mississippi River runs up hill?

Harry.

Answer.—This notion that the Mississippi, in order to accommodate itself to theories as to the shape of the earth, is performing the remarkable feat of running up hill, is sufficiently prevalent to lead to the iteration and reiteration of the above question as often as once a week at least. Of course we cannot reiterate answers so frequently, and hence generally pass the question unnoticed, as correspondents have passed our by-gone replies. A lengthy answer will be found in Our Curiosity Shop of last year, page 95. Here and now we will merely say that the United States Hydrographical Survey flatly contradicts the notion that Lake Itasca is lower than the Gulf of Mexico. It gives the levels at numerous points between that lake and the mouth of the Mississippi, and, surprising as it may seem, considering that the equator has “got the bulge” on all the rest of the world, this survey demonstrates that this old-fashioned river, following the custom of other rivers, with unyielding perversity, is running down hill; in some places at the rate of twenty-five feet and more per mile, and in others at the rate of only several inches. Perhaps this all comes of its never having been “to high school,” or a gymnasium. In fact its education has been totally neglected, except down South, where it has been trained into a bad habit of climbing levees. Whatever the shape of the earth—whether its equatorial diameter is twenty-six miles greater than its axial diameter, or more or less; and whether the waters of the ocean are or are not drawn toward the equator by the centrifugal force of the earth’s diurnal motion, until they stand several miles higher there than they would if the globe had no diurnal motion—one fact is established beyond all equivocation, and that is, that tide level at the mouth of the Mississippi is about 1,575 feet lower than Lake Itasca; which entirely relieves this grand old son of Neptune of any necessity for waging war with the laws of nature and fighting his way up hill to revisit the halls of his father, the “Trident-bearer,” in the briny chambers of the sea. Probably if the earth’s motion on its axis were to cease there would be a reflux of waters from the equatorial region into the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi Valley, across into the Red River of the North and the Mackenzie, submerging the greater part of North America. Let us hope that the earth will continue to spin on its axis at about the same rate as now, at least until we have sold out all our farms and corner lots and moved to equatorial America, where land will then be considerably higher than it is at present in more senses than one.

FIRST CHAPLAINS OF CONGRESS.

Leighton, Iowa.

When was the first prayer offered in the Congress of the United States and by whom? Is there any official record of the matter? If so, where can it be found?

H. Clew.

Answer.—The first chaplain of the Senate of the United States was the Rt. Rev. Samuel Provoost, of the Episcopal Church, Bishop of New York. The first chaplain of the House of Representatives was the Rev. Wm. Lynn, D. D., of the Presbyterian Church. Both of these officiated in the first Congress organized under the present Constitution in the spring of 1789. The Congressional proceedings of that time are preserved in the “American State Papers,” selected and edited under authority of Congress.

THE HARMONICA.

Union City, Ind.

Please give a history of the harmonica.

Ford A. Carpenter.

Answer.—The original harmonica consisted of drinking glasses, played with moistened fingers. We read that about 1750 Mr. Packeridge, an Irish gentleman, was noted as a player upon glasses, whose pitch was regulated by the amount of water contained in each. Benjamin Franklin greatly improved the harmonica by making the glasses revolve about a spindle and fixing the pitch by the size of the glass. He also adopted a different color for each note in the scale, and moistened the rims by passing them through water. Miss Davis, a relative of Franklin, became a celebrated harmonica player, and performed at concerts with great credit. The mouth organ, which is now commonly called the harmonica, is a toy in which the sounds are produced by the vibration of metallic reeds, moved by the breath. Reed instruments essentially similar have been in use in China, Germany, and Holland from very early times. The inventor is unknown.

OREGON AND WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

Alta, Iowa.

Please inform your readers about Northern Oregon and Washington Territory. Is any part of them safe from Indian depredations? Is the land mainly government or railroad grants? State chief facts as to soil, climate, and the various kinds of grain raised.

Answer.—The Indians in Oregon and Washington Territory are all gathered into reservations, and are now peaceable. They are not so fierce and restless as the tribes on this side of the Rockies, being more inclined to pastoral life, farming, and fishing. Little trouble is to be apprehended from this source, particularly in Oregon, the Indian population of which is not large. There are great bodies of public lands. The railroad land-grants are not so extensive as in the Missouri Valley States. There are immense quantities of fine timber lands open to purchase at the minimum price of $2.50 per acre under the “timber lands act” of June 3, 1878, which applies only to such lands in Oregon, Washington Territory, California, and Nevada. There are also wide sections in these States for sale at 25 cents an acre under the “desert lands” act of March 3, 1877. Great bargains have been made in lands passed under this description which are capable of easy irrigation, and are then remarkably productive. Oregon is divided into two parts, differing essentially in climate and productions by the Cascade Range of mountains, running nearly parallel with the Pacific coast, with an average breadth of 50 to 60 miles, and an average elevation of 8,000 feet. The portion of the State west of this range, constituting about one-third of its total area, is well watered, is generally very fertile, and, for the most part, covered with forests of valuable timber. The eastern two-thirds of the State, with the exception of the broad, fertile valleys of the Colombia and Wallawalla Rivers, is mainly made up of elevated plains, with insufficient rainfall for agriculture, except in districts where artificial irrigation is practicable.

The description of Washington Territory corresponds in the main with that of Oregon. The Territory is similarly divided, as regards climate and productions, by the Cascade Range. The rainfall is even greater in the western portion of Washington Territory than in the corresponding portion of Oregon, ranging from 70 inches in the south to the remarkable measure of 125 inches in the north, where it borders on Puget Sound. In this same region the temperature is remarkably equable, varying but 27 degrees during the year between the lowest and highest points. East of the Cascades a narrow strip on the north is mountainous and covered with forests, but south of this lies the Great Plain of the Columbia. Along the western border of this vast region, next the Cascade Range, it is claimed that the rainfall is sufficient for good cereal crops. The same is asserted of its eastern edge, bordering the Coeur d’Alene Mountains of Idaho; but the rest of it, like the southern extension of the same plain into Oregon, is fit only for grazing, except where irrigation is possible. It resembles very much the western portions of Kansas and Nebraska and the western parts of Colorado and Wyoming. In both regions the nutritious, self-curing bunch grasses, which form the chief reliance of the herdsmen east of the Rockies, abound. The grazing and agricultural interests of Oregon and Washington are increasing with great rapidity. The census of 1880 credits Oregon with 500,000 cattle and 1,250,000 sheep, and Washington with 250,000 cattle and 200,000 sheep, and since then the increase has been nearly 100 per-cent. The wheat crop of Oregon, according to the census, was 7,480,010 bushels, the oat crop 4,385,650 bushels, and the barley crop 920,977 bushels. At the same time in Washington Territory the wheat crop was 1,921,322 bushels, the oat crop 1,571,706, and the barley crop 566,537 bushels. Undoubtedly the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad this year will open an era of marvelous growth in the State and Territory above described.

WILLIAM COBBETT, THE AGITATOR.

Alder Grove, Neb.

Who was William Cobbett? He is spoken of as a reformer.

J. M. K.

Answer.—He was an English political writer of the latter part of the last and the first third of the present century. Born at Farnham, Eng., in 1762, the son of a farmer of moderate means, he acquired habits of industry and self-dependence. Not liking rural pursuits, he went to London and engaged as a copying clerk. Soon tiring of this occupation, he enlisted in the British army, where he rose by merit to the rank of Sergeant Major. His spare time in barracks was given to self-education, and on obtaining his discharge, in 1791, he married and emigrated to Philadelphia, where he entered upon his after career as a political writer under the pseudonym of “Peter Porcupine.” At this period he satirized American democracy and French republicanism, attacking the inconsistencies and political fallacies of the time in terms of scorn and bitter denunciation. He was denounced by the American press, particularly by the Democrats, or “Republicans” of those times, as a Tory aiming at reviving the royalistic element in this country, not then completely eradicated. Not pleased with the reception of his political diatribes he returned in 1800 to England, and in 1802 began the publication of his Weekly Political Register, now famous, which he continued to his death, June 18, 1835. At first Tory, the Register gradually changed its politics until it became the most fierce and unrelenting opponent of the government, then conducted by Pitt, and the foremost champion of English Radicalism. He advocated the abolition of flogging in the army, and for strictures on the government and satires and charges claimed to be libellous against certain high officials, he was condemned to imprisonment for two years in Newgate Prison, and to pay a fine of £1,000. He attacked the six acts of the British Parliament for the suppression of free discussion, pouring vials of abuse on the leaders of the government party; and to escape pecuniary embarrassments and the dread of again going to Newgate, he once more came to America, where his change of politics had raised up many friends. He virtually edited his Weekly Political Register from this side the Atlantic until some years later when he returned to England. Radicalism had made great strides, and he found himself one of its recognized champions. In 1829-30 he delivered political lectures in several of the principal towns of England and Scotland, and was everywhere met with enthusiastic welcome as the boldest and most powerful advocate of the people’s rights. In 1832 he was elected to the first reformed Parliament as the member for Oldham. He was re-elected in 1834, and continued in this relation until his death the following year. Among his many popular works may be named “Cottage Economy,” “Rural Riches,” “Advice to Young Men and Women,” “The Emigrant’s Guide,” “Parliamentary History,” and an “English Grammar.”

CONCRETE OR GROUT HOUSES.

Fountain, D. T.

Please describe the method of building houses with concrete walls. What should be used to make the concrete, and in what proportions? Will common lime answer, or must Portland cement or water lime be used? The former comes high here.

Wm. M. Fisk.

Answer.—For the foundation, especially in sandy or wet soils, it is best to use water lime, or a mixture of Portland cement or water lime and quick lime in the proportions of two shovelfuls of the former and one of quick lime putty to fourteen of fine gravel (or fine and coarse mixed) and one of coarse sand. Above the ground or embankment use quick lime in the proportions of one shovelful of lime putty to six or eight of gravel sand. The proportions depend on the strength of the lime, which varies according to the quality of the stone from which it is made. Slake the quick lime into putty ready for use, mix it partially with the gravel, and only add the water lime at the last moment before filling the barrow or hod. For the foundation dig a ditch of the proper size and dump the concrete into it. Cover it and give it a couple of days to set and harden before starting the upper walls. Take fence boards for mold boards; make clamps of three-quarter inch strips, tapering from two inches to one and one-half inches, so as to drive out of the wall easily before the concrete is hard; bore a half-inch hole in each and two inches further apart than the thickness of the wall, and make half-inch pegs four inches long for these holes. Set one tier of these molds on top of the foundation all around, resting on clamps at distances of five to six feet, and with as many clamps on upper edge to gauge the molds. Now shovel or dump in the fresh concrete as fast as you can mix it. If the weather is fine you can set a second tier of molds on top of the first, twenty-four hours, or even eight hours, after the first were filled, and fill in at the same rate as before, provided you leave the first molds undisturbed. As soon as the second tier is filled, draw the pegs from the taper ends of the lowest tier of clamps and drive them out. Remove the lower set of mold boards and begin a third tier at once. Leave the holes left by clamps, for the air to circulate through. A foot wall for first story and ten-inch above that, with eight-inch for partitions, will make a good strong building. The outside should have a coat of plaster made of medium fine sand, mixed with equal portions of quick lime and water lime; and this plaster should be marked out, before it becomes fully hardened, into blocks, to resemble stonework. As concrete houses, like brick ones, are apt to be damp if plastered directly on the walls, it is best to run in small blocks or strips sixteen inches from center to center, on top of every third or fourth course, before filling the molds with concrete, keep these flush with the inside of walls. Nail inch strips to these blocks to serve for scantling, and lath and plaster over this “furring,” as it is called, and you will have dry walls. Have window and door frames ready to build in as you go; securing them by blocks nailed to jambs, around which pack the concrete to hold them firm. Level up the course of concrete when you reach the height for the first joists, and lay an inch board four inches wide on concrete to rest joists on. Have ends of joists that enter wall cut beveling, so that in case the inside of building burns the joists will drop without prying the walls down. Set joists, leveling them carefully, and go on building wall as before. A concrete house built in this way is as substantial as brick.

LAS VEGAS HOT SPRINGS.

Batavia, Iowa.

Are the hot springs of Las Vegas, N. M., beneficial in cases of chronic rheumatism? How far are they from Chicago, and what is the route to them? Also, kindly state the fare.

E. C.

Answer.—The Las Vegas hot springs are reputed to be highly beneficial in cases of chronic and inflammatory rheumatism; particularly in the latter. They are situated on the New Mexico line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, 770 miles from Kansas City, which makes them 1,259 miles from Chicago, via the Chicago and Alton. The regular fare from Chicago to Kansas City is $14.90; from Kansas City or Atchison to Las Vegas and return it is $42.80. It is claimed also that these springs are of great benefit to patients suffering with blood-poisons, paralysis, dyspepsia, and nervous diseases. In the mountain streams the fishing is good, and game is plenty in neighboring localities. From this point to Santa Fe, sixty-five miles, the railroad runs through one of the most interesting portions of this continent, historically considered; a region filled with the wonderful ruins of the old Aztec civilization, the birthplace of the Montezumas.

BASKET WILLOW

Loveland, Col.

Is the basket willow marketable in the United States at rates that pay for cultivating it? If so, how is it cultivated, and what soil is best suited for it.

I. H. Davis.

Answer.—Repeated efforts have been made to cultivate the osier, or basket willow, in the United States, but the labor of peeling and preparing it for the market costs so much more here than in Europe, where this work is done by women and children at trivial wages, that it has been found difficult to compete with the imported stock. The annual importation of prepared willow during the ten years ending in 1879 averaged $33,000, and the willow-work $170,000 a year. The soils best adapted for the osier are rich alluvions and reclaimed swamps. If liable to overflow in spring floods, the ground should have drainage ditches. It is well to have means of irrigating the land in very dry weather. It is propagated from cuttings, selected from the wood grown the year before, cut smoothly into lengths of about ten inches, thrust into soil butt-end first, so as to leave only about an inch above ground. Care must be taken not to peel the bark in setting these slips, and for this reason it is sometimes best to use a hard wood or iron rod to make the hole. They should slope at an angle of 45 degrees toward the north. It is best to plant in straight rows from 20 to 28 inches apart, according to whether they are to be cut every year or every other year, and at intervals of six or eight inches. It is sometimes preferable to set in trenches, and, if the soil is poor, to fertilize with leaf-mold, stable manure, or bonedust, and irrigate with the soakings of manure during dry weather. The ground should be kept mellow and well weeded. The time of cutting should be late in the fall or in winter. The rods should be sorted into sizes, tied in bundles, dried in the sun, and stored in a dry place until ready for peeling. When peeled they should be dried for a day or so in the sun, when if properly prepared they will be white and brilliant; otherwise they will look dull, which impairs their value in market. If exposed to cold and dry winds, the growing osier should be protected by wind-breaks. Dr. F. B. Hough, Chief of the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., says: “An osier plantation costs about $20 per acre for cultivation and yields about $100 to $125 per acre.” If this holds good anywhere in this country, it is strange that osier cultivation is so generally reported unprofitable.

CHEAP PROCESS OF SILVERING METALS.

West Liberty, Iowa.

Please give us instructions for plating or silvering cups, spoons, and other metal articles.

A. H. Cox.

Answer.—Electro-plating is a process that requires apparatus, and a degree of skill in using the same which render it scarcely worth while to enter into a detailed description of it. We outlined the process not long ago, and cannot reiterate it. A cheap and simple method of silvering metals, that any one can put in practice, is as follows:

Clean the articles to be silvered with nitric acid, rub them with a mixture of cyanide of potassium and powdered silver, and wash thoroughly in clear, warm water. Then plunge them into a liquor composed of two parts, by weight, of grape sugar or sugar of milk, two of gallic acid, and 650 parts of distilled water, filtered and kept from the air in tightly-corked bottles until the instant of use. After a few minutes take them out of this liquor and immerse them in another composed of twenty parts, by weight, of nitrate of silver, twenty parts of ammonia solution, and 650 parts of distilled water. Repeat this process, plunging the articles first into one liquor and then into the other, every few minutes, until they are all well coated. The process can be accelerated by heating either the mixture or the articles to a moderate degree. Some persons prefer to mix the two liquors at the moment of use in equal quantities. In such case, shake the mixture thoroughly and filter before immersing the metals. The ammonia solution should be of standard strength. If there is any doubt of this, dissolve the nitrate of silver for the second liquor in the distilled water, add the first liquor, mix thoroughly, and add only enough ammonia to clear the mixture. This is the process for copper, brass, German silver, and similar articles, but before silvering iron or steel they should be coated with copper by leaving them for a little time in a solution of sulphate of copper.

THE GUILLOTINE.

Fairmont, Neb.

I should like to know who was the inventor of the guillotine. How was it constructed and operated.

W. P. Jacks.

Answer.—For many years the invention of the guillotine, the instrument for inflicting capital punishment adopted by the French during the reign of terror, was accredited to Joseph Ignace Guillotine, a French physician, born in 1738, who in 1785 recommended its use in France from motives of humanity, in place of the barbarous gibbet. However, there is in the Antiquarian Museum of Edinburgh a guillotine made before 1581, which served to behead the Scottish Regent, Morton, who had introduced it into use in that country. It was used in Italy in the thirteenth century in a form resembling the instrument now used in France. The guillotine is composed of two upright beams, grooved upon the inside, and surmounted by a cross-beam. Between these beams and sliding in the grooves is a sharp, iron blade, which falls by its own weight with great speed and certainty, severing the head from the body.

ASSESSMENT OF DEPOSITS.

Andover, D. T.

Has an assessor in Dakota any right to assess money on deposit in a bank in Michigan?

Subscriber.

Answer.—According to the laws of most States and Territories a certificate of deposit is just as assessable as the money it represents. Money is subject to assessment wherever it belongs.

GOVERNORS OF ALABAMA.

Greenville, Ala.

Please give the names of all of the Governors and Senators of Alabama since the admission of the State into the Union, with the years during which they served.

Sea.

Answer.—The Governors were the following: William W. Bibb, 1819-20; Thomas Bibb, 1821; Israel Pickens, 1821-25; John Murphy, 1825-29; Gabriel Moore, 1829-31; John Gayle, 1831-35; Clement C. Clay, 1835-37; Arthur P. Bagby, 1837-41; Benjamin Fitzpatrick, 1841-45; Joshua L. Martin, 1845-47; Reuben Chapman 1847-49; Henry W. Collier, 1849-53; John A Winston, 1853-57; Andrew P. Moore, 1857-61; John G. Shorter, 1861-63; Thomas H. Watts, 1863-65; Lewis E. Parsons, 1865; Robert M. Patten, 1865-68; William H. Smith, 1868-70; Robert B. Lindsay, 1872; David P. Lewis, 1872-74; George S. Houston, 1874-79; Rufus W. Cobb, 1879-81. The present Senators are John T. Morgan, 1883-89; James L. Pugh, 1879-85. For former Senators see “Lanman’s Biographical History of the Civil Government of the United States;” it is too long a list to copy here.

BACCHUS—TRADE MARKS.

Wilmington, Ill.

1. Explain the use of trade marks. 2. Who was Bacchus?

L. F. Hazelton.

Answer.—1. Trade marks secure a proprietary right of a single firm in the article thus marked. They are intended to prevent an unknown manufacturer from palming off upon the public imitations of goods that have acquired a reputation from the original manufacturer; or they are a certain warrant of the quality of articles bearing them. 2. Bacchus, or Dionysius, was the Greek god of wine, and, according to the myth, the son of Zeus and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus of Thebes. At his birth he was carried by Hermes to Nysa, to be reared by the nymphs. Being struck with madness, at the command of Juno, he wandered from land to land, attended by nymphs having their heads wreathed with vine and ivy leaves and bearing in their hands the thyrsus. To him is ascribed the knowledge of the cultivation of the vine and the manufacture of intoxicating wine, for in his wanderings he carried to men of many lands this information. Those who received him hospitably were rewarded, but all who rejected him brought upon themselves some form of misery. This hero and demigod was worshiped throughout Greece, but chiefly at Thebes, with sacrifices of goats and oxen, and many noisy and indecent rites, until, in 186 B. C., the Roman Senate suppressed the mysteries, which were the principal feature of the worship.

APOCRYPHA AND THE SACRED CANON.

Algona, Ill.

I should like to know in what year the Bishops of the Church of Rome accepted the Apocrypha as a part of the canon.

Laura A. Barslon.

Answer.—As early as the latter part of the first century of the present era discussions arose among Christians regarding the books rejected by the Jews as profane, and at the Council of Laodicea (360 A. D.) the Greek Church rejected all books except those in the present Protestant canon. In 474 Pope Gelasius convened a council of seventy Bishops, which confirmed the opinion of Pope Innocent I., recognizing the Apocryphal books as sacred, and rejecting some of the doubtful books of the New Testament. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) finally settled the mooted question for the Roman Catholic Church, accepting the “Apocrypha” as a part of the sacred canon. The Greek Church has much the same books, while the Protestants retain only the Hebrew canon of the Old Testament.

CHURCH REFORMATION—PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.

Danville, Ill.

Did any reformatory movements or discussions occur in the Roman Catholic Church before the time of Luther? 2. Are all of the Popes considered infallible?

John Short.

Answer.—After the union of church and state, during the reign of Constantine the Great, as the church attained great temporal power and wealth, imposing rites and ceremonies were added to her service, and, with these, abuses and corruption crept in. The first great evil was the assumption by the church of spiritual dictatorship, and to oppose it arose St. Ambrose, St. Martin, and St. Stephen. Then occurred the great reform within the church itself, inaugurated by Pope Gregory III. for the purification of the clergy; and at the same time came Abelard, preaching liberty of thought in theology. But the growth of new sects specially characterized the four centuries immediately preceding the Lutheran Reformation. Of these the principal ones were the Lollards (1324), the Hussites (1373), the Moravian Brethren (1417), and the Mystics (1340-1471). 2. The supreme authority of the Pope in all religious matters has been generally acknowledged in the Roman Catholic Church from very early times, but the infallibility of the Pope, in regard to faith and morals, was not formulated and decreed by the Vatican Council until July 18, 1870.

A COMPARISON OF NATIONS.

Media, Kan.

What effect does the present system of tariff have upon American commercial and industrial interests of the United States? How do the commerce and industrial products of the United States compare with those of other countries?

J. H. Vick.

Answer.—There are several articles on the tariff in Our Curiosity Shop for 1880, to which we must refer you; particularly one on page 149, entitled “The Tariff and the Farmers.” According to high statistical authority the commerce and principal industries of this country, Great Britain, France, and Germany in 1880 compared as follows:

Countries—	Commerce.	Manufactures.
United States	$1,505,000,000	$4,440,000,000
Great Britain	3,460,000,000	3,790,000,000
France	1,660,000,000	2,425,000,000
Germany	1,920,000,000	2,135,000,000

The commerce above referred to is mainly foreign commerce. In the case of Great Britain, what corresponds to our inter-State commerce (the trade between the different portions of the one extended government) is included under the head of “Commerce,” swelling the aggregate largely, whereas but a small portion of the interstate commerce of the United States is included in the above estimate of our “Commerce.” Our fifty million people buy and sell among themselves to supply each other’s wants, and consume a much larger proportion of their domestic products per capita for their own comfort than do the English, French, or Germans. The effects of the tariff in building up American manufactures are shown in the above table, and in the table below are indicated some of the effects on mining, agriculture, and the carrying trade:

			Carrying
Countries—	Mining.	Agriculture.	Trade.
United States	$360,000,000	$3,000,000,000	$830,000,000
Great Britain	325,000,000	1,200,000,000	805,000,000
France	60,000,000	2,000,000,000	810,000,000
Germany	105,090,000	1,700,000,000	845,000,000

Comparatively few of our manufactures are exported, because our agriculture, mining, manufacturing, commercial, and professional classes consume them at home. So, too, the products of our mines are mostly kept at home, and four-fifths of our agricultural products. If our foreign carrying trade is not so large as Great Britain’s, our coasting and other domestic carrying trade exceeds hers. By division of labor we are creating a world of our own, setting up our own standards of wages, and modes of living, and are, as a consequence, living better, enjoying more of the comforts of life, man for man, than any other people under the sun.

THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES.

Algona, Iowa.

I come to you for a little light. In Abbott’s “Life of Cleopatra” the author states that in early times the Bible was not kept by the Jews as any other than a vulgar history. I should like to know whether there is any authority for the assertion.

Laura A. Barslow.

Answer.—For hundreds of years before the birth of Christ the books of Moses and other works sanctioned by the prophets (whose duty it was to guard the people against spurious writings or the loss of what was genuine) were regarded by the Jews as so sacred that “no one dared to add to or omit or alter anything;” so Josephus tells us. An authentic copy was kept in the Temple, while others copied from it were circulated for use in the synagogues of different places. A Jewish tradition ascribes to Ezra, after the return of the Jews from the captivity, and the college of learned men called the “Great Synagogue,” the collection and selection of writings which form the Jewish and the present Protestant Old Testament canon. There is no good authority for the statement in your question.

SHOOTING NIAGARA.

Kansas City, Mo.

Did any steamboat ever go through the great whirlpool in Niagara River with anybody on board and without being wrecked?

Controversy.

Answer.—The little excursion steamer Maid of the Mist, which used to ply on the Niagara River, between the falls and the whirlpool, ran through the seething rapids and the great whirlpool of that river in 1861, with the captain and two companions on board, one of whom was hurt on the passage. It was a foolhardy feat, and came near ending in the wreck of the vessel and the death of all on board.

THE SUN’S STAY IN THE NORTH.

Gilman, Ill.

To settle a dispute, state whether the sun stays north of the equator longer than it does south of it; and if so, why.

Young Reader.

Answer.—The earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse with the sun in one of the foci, at a point on the long diameter of the orbit something more than a million miles from the center in the direction of perigee, or the place where the earth approaches nearest to the sun. In 1882 the sun was in perigee Dec. 31, and in apogee—the point furthest from the earth—on July 3. For several thousand years to come the perigee point will be south of the equator, as it has been for several thousand years past. As a consequence of this and because the earth moves more rapidly the nearer it gets to the sun, it takes it less time to travel through that part of its orbit south of the equator than through the portion north of it. In the year 1800 the sun was north of the equator seven days 16 hours and 51 minutes longer than it was south of it. The sun crossed the equator, coming north, March 21, 1882, at 12:02 o’clock at night, and crossed it on the return Sept. 22, 1882, at 10:29 o’clock p. m., an interval of 185 days 10 hours and 27 minutes. It reached the equator next on its return northward, March 20, 1883, at 5:39 o’clock p. m., an interval of 177 days 19 hours and 10 minutes. So that the northern hemisphere had a longer spring and summer than the southern hemisphere last year by seven days 15 hours and 27 seconds. The Brazilians and Terra del Fuegans may console themselves with the reflection that in about 6,000 years they will get even with us, and that in a little more than 12,000 years from now the sun will linger in the southern hemisphere a full week longer than in the northern.

AREA OF PALESTINE.

Osceola, Iowa.

What is the extent of Palestine? Where can I get a first-class map and geographical description of Palestine?

C. M. F.

Answer.—The area is variously estimated as from 11,000 to 12,000 square miles. The former is Kitto’s estimate, and according to that Palestine has not quite one-fifth the extent of Illinois (56,650) or Iowa (56,025). Maps of Palestine, ranging in cost from $4 to $30, with or without descriptive pamphlets, or geographies, may be ordered of any of the church publication societies in this city by yourself or through the nearest bookseller.

DATES OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

Newton, Kas.

Please give the dates of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

C. A. Herrick.

Answer.—The first ten were added before the adoption of the Constitution, in 1791; the eleventh in 1798, the twelfth in 1804, the thirteenth in 1865, the fourteenth in 1868, and the fifteenth in 1870.

SENATOR SHARON.

Manly Junction, Iowa.

Please give a brief sketch of Senator Sharon.

A Subscriber.

Answer.—William Sharon was born in Smithfield, Ohio, Jan. 9, 1821. After preparing himself for admission to the legal profession he decided to enter the banking business, and upon his removal to Nevada became interested in mining operations. He is at present a trustee of the Bank of California, and has great influence in the business of the Pacific slope. He was United States Senator from Nevada for the term 1875-81.

THREE BLACK FRIDAYS.

Odessa, Neb.

What was “Black Friday,” and what part did ex-President Grant take in it?

Ed. S. Jelley.

Answer.—September 24, 1869, Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr., attempted to create a corner in the gold market by buying all the gold in the banks of New York City, amounting to $15,000,000. For several days the value of gold rose steadily, and the speculators aimed to carry it from 144 to 200. Friday the whole city was in a ferment, the banks were rapidly selling, gold was at 162½ and still rising. Men became insane and everywhere the wildest excitement raged, for it seemed probable that the business houses must be closed, from ignorance of the prices to be charged for their goods. But in the midst of the panic it was reported that Secretary Boutwell, of the United States Treasury, had thrown $4,000,000 on the market, and at once gold fell, the excitement ceased, leaving Gould and Fisk the winners of $11,000,000. There is no good evidence that President Grant had any connection with the sales. The fact that his brother-in-law was interested in Wall street operations at that time led to the charge against Grant by his enemies. The day noticed above is what is generally referred to as Black Friday in this country, but the term was first used in England, being applied in the first instance to the Friday on which the news reached London that the young Pretender, Charles Edward, had arrived at Derby, creating a terrible panic: and finally to May 11, 1866, when the failure of Overend, Guerney & Co., London, the day before, was followed by a widespread financial ruin.

FORFEITURE OF HOMESTEAD.

Camargo, Ill.

Is it absolutely necessary for a homesteader to commence his bona fide residence on his claim within six months?

G. H. Snedaker.

Answer.—The homestead law contemplates immediate settlement by the claimant upon the land; and section 2,297 of the Revised Statutes declares that if at any time after he has filed his entry affidavit it is shown, to the satisfaction of the receiver of the land office, that the claimant has actually changed his residence, “or abandoned the land for more than six months,” at any time, the land shall revert to the government. “Copps’ American Settlers’ Guide,” page 53, says: “At the expiration of six months from date of entry the homestead party who has not been able to establish a bona fide residence upon the homestead, owing to climatic reasons, must file his affidavit, duly corroborated by two credible witnesses, giving in detail the storms, etc., that rendered it impossible for him to commence residence within six months.” We would add that it is safest to comply with the law, making it unnecessary to appeal to the decree of the General Land Commissioner, a very uncertain resort in cases of this nature.

LIQUOR DRANK IN ILLINOIS.

Carlinville, Ill.

In an argument on the temperance question a few days ago, a public speaker quoted The Inter Ocean as authority for the statement that there are $60,000,000 worth of liquor drank in Illinois during the course of a year. 1. Did The Inter Ocean say so? If it did, give us the figures in the Curiosity Shop to prove it. 2. He also said that this amount was one-third greater than the total value of the wheat crop of this State. Prove that too.

T. E. D.

Answer.—The principal facts on which The Inter Ocean rests the estimate above quoted are re-stated below once for all. If they can be successfully refuted, let us have that refutation. The following estimate is based on observations made as to the patronage of six Chicago saloons, so long ago as 1877, by the founders of the Citizens’ League. The figures in the first column give the number of persons, male and female, seen to enter these places between 7 o’clock p. m. and midnight; the second column is our own computation of the money paid in, assuming that nothing but beer was called for, at 5 cents a glass, two-thirds of the customers drinking but one glass, and the rest of them averaging only two glasses each; and the third column indicates the probable actual receipts, adding for the ordinary consumption of drinks more costly than beer:

Number	Receipts	Gross
entering.	if beer.	receipts.
2,863	$190	$250
2,806	187	250
1,979	132	176
1,820	121	160
1,741	116	155
1,685	112	150

Observe that these are the receipts in saloons where lager beer was the chief drink; that the above figures cover only the five hours after 7 p. m., and that liquors in kegs, bottles, pitchers, and jugs ordered for home use are not taken into account. There are a few establishments dealing chiefly in whisky, brandy, wine, etc., whose receipts are at times nearly double the highest amount above given as the daily average.

To add assurance to the above calculation, one of the most thorough investigators and accurate reporters on The Inter Ocean local staff was detailed to ascertain, as nearly as may be, the actual receipts of Chicago saloons. He made the following report:

	Average
No. of	receipts
Saloons	per	REMARKS.
	day.
10	$150	Chapin & Gore’s, Monroe st.;
	or	Hannah & Hogg, Madison st.;
	$200	Batchelder’s, Mahler & Gale.
50	$75	“Dutch” Henry, House of David,
	or	Hansen’s, Dunhams, and
	$100	Chapin & Gore’s branches,
		and dens on “the Levee.”
100	$50	The ordinary down-town saloons
		and very good saloons
		in outlying districts.
2,000	$30	Decent saloons in extreme
or	and	north, south, and west portions
over	$25	of city, Rolling Mill and
		Stock Yards districts; mostly
		beer trade.
1,000	$15	The same as the above, with
to	to	smaller trade, or houses in
1,200	$20	hard neighborhoods, with no
		legitimate trade, but which
		wait for victims to be
		“steered” into them.
300	$10	Little German beer saloons in
to		sparsely settled districts,
500		containing simply an ice-box
		and a keg of beer. Do a
		“can” trade mostly.

On the foregoing data a moderate estimate of the gross annual receipts of the 3,750 licensed saloons of Chicago figures as below:

No. of	Average daily	Receipts
saloons.	receipts.	for year.
10	$175	$838,750
50	85	1,551,250
100	50	1,825,000
1,000	30	10,950,000
1,000	25	9,125,000
1,090	15	5,967,750
500	10	1,825,000
3,750		$32,082,750

This schedule does not cover unlicensed saloons, or other places where liquor is sold; the average daily receipts are taken at less rather than more than the probable truth, and yet it charges Chicago, which contains only about one-sixth of the population of the State, with an outlay of over $32,000,000 per annum for spirits, wines, and fermented drinks. It is not so easy to ascertain the number of saloons in the rest of the State and their average daily sales, but data are not wholly wanting. Take the following figures, compiled from a list of high-license towns, where in several instances the number of saloons has been reduced by more than half.

	Population.	No. of	License.
		saloons.
Anna	1,500	9	$500
Aurora	13,500	25	500
Apple River	650	2	300
Bloomington	23,000	32	600
Cabery	325	3	400
Carmi	2,500	12	300
Charleston	3,250	6	800
Chandlerville	700	3	500
Chenoa	1,100	5	300
Dongola	700	4	300
Elmwood	1,700	3	800
Galesburg	12,000	18	600
Gillespie	800	8	450
Hillsboro	2,000	3	800
Joliet	14,500	60	500
Kenny	600	2	500
Lamoille	500	1	300
Minier	650	3	300
Mason City	2,000	4	750
Mattoon	7,000	8	800
Moline	9,000	30	300
Mount Morris	900	1	500
Noble	400	1	300
Odell	1,000	2	750
Ohio	400	3	475
Oswego	700	2	300
Paris	5,500	8	800
Rockford	15,000	20	500
Rochelle	2,000	4	433
Savanna	1,500	10	500
Strawn	400	3	300
Tiskilwa	800	2	400
Washburn	500	3	300

In Peoria, Quincy, Rock Island, Galena, Alton, Cairo, Belleville, Springfield, LaSalle, Ottawa, Morris, Kankakee, and low-license towns generally, the number of saloons as compared with population is still greater, averaging but little better than Chicago with its license of only $103, and one saloon to every 160 inhabitants—men, women, and children. Fifty-eight high-license towns of the State, with a population of 189,000, contain 401 saloons, or one to every 470 inhabitants. Make all the allowance that can be reasonably asked for the moderate drinking of the farming classes, and discount, if possible, our estimate for Chicago, and the total cost of liquor drank in Illinois exceeds $60 000 000 per annum. 2. The Illinois crop report for 1882 makes the winter wheat of that year worth $45,472,045 and the spring wheat $1,242,331.

THE DIAMOND.

Shenandoah, Iowa.

When, how and by whom were diamonds first discovered? What is the etymology of the word diamond? How did their value when first discovered compare with the same now? What is the value of a one-carat diamond of the finest quality?

R. P. Drake.

Answer.—The discoverer of diamonds is unknown. From references in Exodus it is apparent that the diamond was a precious stone in Egypt in those early times; and even before that it was known in India, where probably it was first obtained. The name is derived from the Greek word adamas, meaning “unsubduable,” referring to its hardness, and later was written diamas, in Latin. From Pliny, a writer of the first century, we learn that the diamond was regarded as the most valuable of all things, and but few kings even could afford to buy them. But as no means of artificial polishing had been discovered the stone depreciated in value, so that the ruby and emerald became more precious. The discovery by Ludwig van Berquen, in 1476, of a mode of cutting and polishing it, at once returned this gem to the first place among precious stones. The present value of a fine brilliant, weighing one carat, varies from $50 to $100. The rose and table diamonds command much less. Larger diamonds appreciate in value much more rapidly than the ratio of their weight. The Orloff diamond, 193 carats, is valued at $500,000; the Pitt diamond, 136 carats, at $600,000; the Dudley diamond, 254½ carats, at $750,000; while the Kohinoor, for various reasons, although now it weighs but 102½ carats, is estimated to be worth $2,000,000.

AUTHORS OF CERTAIN POEMS.

Randolph, N. Y.

The title of the poem containing the couplet—

“And is this the man, thou vaunting knave,

Thou hast dared to compare with the weeping slave?”

is “The Peasant.” It was written by William Howitt. The author of the poem containing the lines, “I sat alone with my conscience,” etc., is Charles W. Stubbs. It appeared in the Spectator under the title, “The Conscience and Future Judgment.”

Leo Boardman.

GENERAL TOM THUMB.

Griswold, Iowa.

How old was General Tom Thumb when he died? State his real name in full, and that of his wife; also a few of the principal facts as to his size, history, etc., and oblige several readers.

A Subscriber.

Answer.—The true name of this celebrated dwarf was Charles Heywood Stratton. He was born in Bridgeport, Conn., Jan. 4, 1838, and died at his residence, Middleboro, Mass., July 15, 1883, of apoplexy. The attention of P. T. Barnum, the showman, was first drawn to Stratton in November, 1842, when the midget was about 4 years old. He was then less than 2 feet high, weighed less than 16 pounds, was beautifully formed, a blonde, with ruddy cheeks and mirthful eyes. Barnum introduced him to the public Dec. 8, 1842, by the name of General Tom Thumb; now known the world over. He paid him $3 a week and expenses for himself and his mother for the first four weeks, after which he engaged him for a year at $7 a week, but, as the boy proved a great attraction, he soon raised the wages to $25 a week. In January, 1846, under a contract of $50 a week, Mr. Barnum took him to Europe, where he made a profitable tour through England, France, and Germany. He was presented to Queen Victoria, Louis Phillipe, King William of Prussia (now the German Emperor), and other rulers, who treated him with marked kindness. The next year he returned to Europe for three months. On his return home he proved a greater attraction than ever, and Mr. Barnum says that in twelve days in Philadelphia he received $5,504.91; and in one day at Providence he took in $976.98. In 1857 he took Tom Thumb and Cordelia Howard, famous as little Eva in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” to Europe, where these children appeared in humorous characters, creating a furore and gathering a golden harvest. In 1862 Mr. Barnum introduced the two sister midgets, Lavinia and Minnie Warren, to the public, the former of whom young Stratton married before the end of that year. True to his chief instinct Barnum desired to turn the courting and the marriage ceremony to pecuniary account, offering $15,000 to postpone the wedding for a month, and then have it take place in the Academy of Music as an exhibition at so much a seat. To the credit of the bride and groom, they repelled this offer with just indignation, and were married in Grace Church, New York. The public reception at the Metropolitan Hotel, immediately following, was a notable affair. After this, for week after week, the three tiny folks drew crowds of admirers at Barnum’s old museum on the corner where the New York Herald office now stands, the receipts sometimes being over $3,000 a day. Mr. and Mrs. Stratton had a pleasant home at Middleboro, where they spent a large part of their time when not on the stage. They had one child, who died at the age of 2 years and 6 months. Both of them have been noted for sprightly intelligence, and have hosts of friends in all circles of society.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

Urbana, Ill.

Will you please to give a short biography of Napoleon Bonaparte?

Nettie Ayers.

Answer.—He was born at Ajaccio, Corsica, Aug. 15, 1769. His mother, a strong and cultured, but severe woman, ruled her household with a rod of iron, and to her the son owed his indomitable will. At ten years of age he was sent to a military school at Brienne, France, and six years later entered the army. In 1792, having taken an active part in the defection in Ajaccio, he was expelled, with the rest of his family, from the city. After several years of brilliant military service Napoleon was made commander of the campaign in Italy, which closed with the treaty of Campo Formio. On the eve of his departure he was married to the beautiful and accomplished Mme. Josephine Beauharnais. The year after the close of the Italian campaign (1797) Napoleon set out for Egypt, designing to investigate its wealth, art treasures and other antiquities, but the expedition proved disastrous and he soon returned to meet a critical state of affairs in France, leaving the army under the command of General Kleber. On Aug. 2, 1802, the French people made Bonaparte First Consul for life, and in the same year received at his hands the famous Code Napoleon, the product of the best legal talent of the nation, and undoubtedly one of the noblest monuments of his administration. It still forms the great body of French law. Two years later, he was proclaimed Emperor. After a remarkable career in war and peace, he sacrificed his heart and highest manhood to his ambition by divorcing his faithful Josephine to form a royal alliance with Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. The decline of his power soon followed, like a pursuing Nemesis; beginning with the fearful disasters succeeding the burning of Moscow and the ensuing retreat in the midst of a Russian winter, and ending with the disastrous battle of Leipsic, the fall of Paris, his first abdication, and his exile (1814) to the little island of Elba. He escaped to France ten months later; raised another army, and hastened to meet the allies—English, Germans, and Netherlanders—in Belgium, on the fatal field of Waterloo. A few months later and he was a prisoner for life on the desolate island of St. Helena, in custody of Great Britain, where he died of cancer of the stomach May 5, 1821. By almost universal concession he is regarded as the greatest military commander that ever lived. Had his diplomacy been equal to his military genius it is probable that he would have remained to his death, as he was for a period of more than six years, the virtual master of nearly all the civilized States of Continental Europe. In 1840 his mortal remains were carried to France and buried in Paris, the scene of his greatest triumphs as of his final downfall.

WEIGHT OF LUMBER.

Decatur, Ill.

Please publish a table of the weight per thousand feet, “Chicago yard measure,” of planed and unplaned boards, flooring, siding, etc., and do your readers a practical service.

Old Subscriber.

Answer.—The following table is given in the lumber inspection rules printed by the Northwestern Lumberman Publishing Company of this city. It presents the average of the actual weights in the shipment of 20,000,000 feet of lumber during a single season:

	Weight in
Description	pounds
Boards, 1, 1¼, and 1½ inch thick, surfaced on one side per thousand ft.	2,102
Boards, 1, 1¼, and 1½ inch thick, surfaced on two sides	2,068
Boards, 2 inches thick, surfaced on one side	2,000
Flooring, white pine, dressed and matched	1,890
Flooring, 4 inches wide, dressed and matched	1,793
Flooring, hard pine, dressed and matched	2,366
Ship laps, 8 inch	1,711
Ship laps, 10 inch	1,725
Ship laps, 12 inch	1,855
Ceiling, white pine, ⅜ inch	786
Ceiling, hard pine, ⅜ inch	950
Siding	865
Piece stuff, rough	2,560
Piece stuff, surfaced on one side	2,210
Thin, clear	1,380
Ceiling, ⅝	1,120
Rough boards	2,524
Fence, hard pine	2,910
Fencing, 6 inch	2,433
Shingles, pine, per 1,000	248
Shingles, cedar, per 1,000	203
Lath, dry	502

ST. ANASTASIUS—APOSTLE OF HUNGARY.

Who was called the “Apostle of Hungary,” where was he born, and when did he live?

W. I. Pratt.

Answer.—St. Anastasius, surnamed Astric, was born in France, A. D. 954, and died in 1044. He gained great influence over Stephen I., King of Hungary, 997-1038, who intrusted the zealous missionary with almost unlimited powers. These he used with such rare wisdom and spirit that the Hungarians were rapidly converted from paganism. The freedom of all Christian slaves was proclaimed, the political organization of the kingdom was reconstructed, schools were established, and, in fine, Hungary was transformed from barbarism to a state of inchoate Christian civilization. He is honored in history and tradition as the “Apostle of Hungary.”

EXECUTIVE AND DEPARTMENT SALARIES.

Augusta, Kan.

Please give the organization of the President’s household, give the salaries of its several officers, and state who pays the same. Also give the organization of each of the departments under the several members of the President’s Cabinet.

C. H. M.

Answer.—The President’s salary is $50,000 a year. The organization of the executive office gives him a private secretary, with salary of $3,250; assistant secretary, $2,250; two executive clerks, each $2,000; stenographer, $1,800; five other clerks, severally $1,200, $1,400, and $1,800; steward, $1,800; usher, $1,400; five messengers, each $1,200; four doorkeepers, each $1,200; watchman, $900; furnace-keeper, $864.

The principal officers of the Department of State are: Secretary of State, salary, $8,000; Assistant Secretary, $4,500; Second Assistant, $3,500; Third Assistant, $3,500; Chief Clerk, $2,750; Examiner of Claims, $3,500; Chief of Diplomatic Bureau, $2,100; Chief of Consular Bureau, $2,100; Chief of Indexes and Archives, $2,100; Chief of Bureau of Accounts, $2,100; Librarian, $2,100; Translator, $2,100. There are thirty-nine clerks with salaries ranging from $1,800 down to $900; a proof-reader, $1,300; a lithographer, $1,200; chief engineer, $1,200; assistant engineer, $1,000; messengers, watchmen, laborers, and firemen, in all twenty-four, ranging from $1,000 down to $660.

The Treasury Department is one of the most, perhaps the most important and laborious department of the government. The Secretary’s salary is $8,000, the Assistant Secretary receives $4,500; Second Assistant Secretary, $4,500; Chief Clerk, $2,700; First Comptroller, $5,000; Second Comptroller, $5,000; Commissioner of Customs, $4,000; First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Auditors, each, $3,600; Treasurer of the United States, $6,000; Assistant Treasurer, $3,600; Register of the Treasury, $4,000; Comptroller of the Currency, $5,000; Commissioner of Internal Revenue, $6,000; Solicitor of Internal Revenue, $4,500; Solicitor of the Treasury, $4,500; Director of the Mint, $4,500; Chief of Bureau of Engraving and Printing, $4,500; Chief of Bureau of Statistics, $2,400; Supervising Architect, $4,500; Superintendent of United States Coast Survey, $6,000; Chairman of Lighthouse Board, $4,000; Superintendent of Life-saving Service, $4,000; Inspector General of Steamboats, $3,500; Chief of Appointment Division, $2,500; Chief of Warrant Division, $2,750; Chief of Public Moneys Division, $2,500; Chief of Customs Division, $2,750. The subordinate officers and employes under the above chief officers of the Treasury number many thousands, varying in number with the emergencies of the service. The total official list of this department for all parts of the country, including collectors of customs and internal revenue and their employes, covers 195 octavo pages, with from sixty to ninety-six names on a page.

The Department of the Interior is organized as follows: Secretary of the Interior, salary, $8,000; Assistant Secretary, $3,500; Chief Clerk, $2,750; Assistant Attorney General, $5,000; Commissioner of General Land Office, $4,000; Commissioner of Pensions, $5,000; Commissioner of Patents, $4,500; Commissioner of Indian Affairs, $4,000; Commissioner of Education, $3,000; Director of Geological Survey, $6,000; Superintendent of Census, $5,000. Other officers and employes in all parts of the country, but mainly at Washington, vary in number from time to time, more perhaps than those of any other department, ranging from about 7,500 to about 9,000, with salaries from $3,000 down to $600.

The Secretary of War receives $8,000 a year; Chief Clerk, $2,500; Adjutant General, $5,500; Inspector General, $5,500; Quartermaster General, $5,500; Commissary General, $5,500; Surgeon General, $5,500; Chief Medical Purveyor, $4,200; Judge Advocate General, $5,500; Chief of Engineers, $5,500; Chief Signal Officer, $5,500; Chief of Ordnance, $5,500. The complete official list of the department at present embraces about 4,000 names, with salaries from $3,000 to $660.

The Secretary of the Navy receives $8,000; Chief Clerk, $2,500; Judge Advocate General, $4,500; Chiefs of the Bureaus of yards and docks, navigation, ordnance, provisions and clothing, medicine and surgery, equipment and recruiting, construction and repair, steam-engineering, each $5,000; Commandant of navy yard, $4,500; Pay Inspector, $3,000; Commandant of Marine Corps, $4,500; Superintendent of Naval Observatory, $5,000; Superintendent of Nautical Almanac, $3,500; Chief Signal Officer, $3,500; Hydrographer, $3,500. The total official list of the Navy numbers now about 2,800, with salaries from $3,000 to $660.

The Postmaster General receives $8,000; the First, Second and Third Assistants, each $3,500; Superintendent of Foreign Mails, $3,000; Assistant Attorney General for Postoffice Department, $4,000; Superintendent of Money-order System, $3,000. The total official list for employes at Washington numbers about 5,000, with salaries ranging from those already given down to $660 a year.

The Department of Justice is organized with Attorney General, salary, $8,000; Solicitor General, $7,000; First Assistant Attorney General, $5,000; Second Assistant Attorney General, $5,000. There are about fifty clerks, copyists, messengers, laborers, etc., at salaries from $2,200 to $660.

WHEN THE SEASONS BEGIN.

Wenona, Ill.

To end an argument, please inform us, through Our Curiosity Shop, when summer begins.

C. M. Turner.

Answer.—The civil or tropical year, the one commonly used in the measure of time, is the period which elapses from the sun’s appearance on one of the tropical circles to its return to the same. It varies very slightly, and has a mean length of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 49.7 seconds. Astronomically considered, the four seasons begin at the equinoctial or the solstitial points. The summer solstice is the meridian, passing through the point where the sun touches the tropic of cancer; the winter solstice is the meridian passing through the point where it touches the tropic of capricorn; and the equinoctial points are the points at which the sun’s path or equinoctial crosses the celestial equator. All these points shift, according to very exact astronomical laws, from year to year; and so the precise times when the seasons begin are matters of the nicest mathematical calculations. For example, last year the seasons began as follows:

Winter began Dec. 21, 1881, at 10:52 a. m. and lasted 90 days, 1 hour, and 10 minutes.

Spring began March 21, 1882, at 12:02 p. m. and lasted 91d, 20h, and 4m.

Summer began June 21, 1882, at 8:06 a. m. and lasted 93d, 14h, and 23m.

Winter began Dec. 21, 1882, at 4:45 p. m. and lasted 89d, 18h, and 16m.

The beginning of the seasons this year are given as follows:

Winter began Dec. 21, 1882, at 4:45 p. m. and lasted 88 days, and 54 minutes.

Spring began March 20, 1883, at 5:39 p. m. and lasted 92d, 20h, and 14m.

Summer began June 21, 1883, at 1:53 p. m. and lasts 93d, 14h, and 35m.

Winter will begin Dec. 21, 1883, at 10:44 a. m. and last 89d, 16h, and 16m.

HENRY CLAY.

Hoosier, Pa.

Please give me an account of Henry Clay and his descendants.

A Subscriber.

Answer.—Henry Clay was born near Richmond, Va., April 12, 1777. His father died in 1782, and ten years later his mother married again and moved to Kentucky, leaving Henry as a clerk in Richmond. In 1797 Henry followed her, and opened a law office in Lexington. He took an active part in the framing of a new constitution for Kentucky, upon her separation from Virginia when he strongly urged some provision for the abolition of slavery, but in vain. From this time he became prominent in politics. In 1803 a State Senator, a United States Senator in 1806, one of the negotiators of peace in the war of 1812, and twice a Speaker of the House, he was no stranger to statesmanship when in 1824 he appeared as a candidate for the presidency. He was defeated, however, as was also the case in 1832 and 1844 when he was the candidate of the Whig party. As an orator he stands among the very first that this country has produced. As a statesman he was far-seeing, a wise political economist, a devoted lover of the Union, and absolutely incorruptible. “I would rather be right than be the President,” is one of his utterances, made under circumstances that tested his sincerity. He did what he believed was right, offended the slave oligarchy thereby, as he foresaw he should do, and barely failed of election to the presidency in the ensuing campaign as the consequence. Knowing the desperate measures to which the champions of slavery would resort to preserve and extend that institution, he averted threatened secession in 1821 by bringing forward the “Missouri Compromise;” again in 1850 by another compromise known as the “Omnibus bill.” The effect of these pacific measures was to defer the inevitable final appeal to arms until the strength of the free States had outgrown the slave power, and the Union was able to grapple with secession and throttle it. As one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent, at the close of the second war with England, he caused the erasure of the clause granting free navigation of the Mississippi to British vessels. Protection to American industry through a wise adjustment of the tariff, found in him one of the ablest of its early champions. Mr. Clay married Lucretia Hart, in 1799, who bore him six daughters and five sons. The last of the daughters died in 1835. Of the sons, the most promising, Henry, born in 1811, fell at the battle of Buena Vesta, Feb. 23, 1847. James B., born in 1817, was a representative in Congress from his father’s old district, 1857-9. He was a member of the Peace Commission of 1861; died at Montreal, Jan. 26, 1864. Thomas Hart, born in 1803, took office under President Lincoln as minister to Nicaragua, and, later, to Honduras. He died at Lexington, Ky., March 18, 1871.

FOUNDING OF YALE AND DARTMOUTH.

Melvin, Ill.

Please state when and by whom Yale, Harvard, and Dartmouth colleges were founded.

A. Buckholz.

Answer.—Yale College was founded in 1700, by the Connecticut Colony, under the trusteeship of the ten principal ministers of the colony. Harvard University was founded at Cambridge in 1636, and named for the Rev. John Harvard, who gave $3,500 toward its endowment fund. Dartmouth College was chartered in 1769, and named for Lord Dartmouth, because of his interest and benefactions. These institutions were chartered by corporations, and not by single individuals.

SWARMING OF BEES.

Kewanee, Ill.

In swarming, do the old or the young bees leave the hive?

“Topsy.”

Answer.—The first swarm of a season leaves the hive under the guidance of the old queen, before the new brood is hatched. This swarm consists of most of the old workers and drones. As soon as the new brood is five or six days old, young queens lead forth other swarms, composed for the most part of young bees, until only one queen remains in the old hive with a swarm.

MARTIN LUTHER.

Urbana, Ill.

Will you please give me a short biography of Martin Luther?

Nettie Ayres.

Answer.—Martin Luther was born of poor parents, at Eisleben, in 1483. After studying at Erfurt and being confirmed priest, Luther accepted a professorship at the University of Wittemberg in 1508. In 1510 he was sent on a mission to Rome, where he had an insight into the corruptions of the papacy, and upon his return he immediately entered upon his work of reform, especially attacking the sale of indulgences. One of his first acts was to nail on the door of Wittemberg Church ninety-five theses, in which he denied the power of the Pope to forgive sins. Great excitement followed, and Luther was summoned by Pope Leo X. to appear at Rome. The university and electors interfered, and a legate from Rome came to Germany to hear Luther’s defense. Soon Luther’s books and papers gained a wide circulation, and in 1520 came a papal bull of excommunication, which Luther burned in the gate of Wittemberg in the presence of a large company. The next year Charles V. convened the Diet of Worms, which ordered the destruction of Luther’s books and the arrest of the heretic. He was now imprisoned by friends in the Castle of Wartburg for his protection, and soon after his release married the gifted Katharine Von Bora, a nun whom he had converted to Protestantism. His later life was spent in writing and controversy, though, on the whole, very quiet. He died in 1546.

FALL OF WESTERN RIVERS.

1. What is the elevation of Rock Island, St. Louis, and Cairo above the Gulf of Mexico? 2. What is the fall per mile required to give a river a current of two miles an hour? 3. State average fall of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

J. H. Rhodes.

Answer.—1. Rock Island is about 536 feet, St. Louis 408 feet, and Cairo about 322 feet above tide-water. 2. The number of inches fall per mile required to give a current of two miles depends very greatly upon the volume of the stream, the character of the bed, and the directness of the channel. The same stream is sluggish at low water and a rushing torrent at high flood. The current of the Lower Mississippi, with a fall of nearly three inches per mile, has an annual average of three miles an hour in midstream. 3. The slope of rivers falling into the Mississippi from the west is about six inches per mile, and that of those from the east is about three inches per mile, except in the case of the Ohio River, whose mean descent from Pittsburg to Cairo, including the falls and rapids at Louisville, is about 5⅙ inches. The mean descent of the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to the gulf is a little over 2⅘ inches a mile. Between Lake Itasca and the mouth of the Ohio the descent of the Mississippi is much more rapid. From its source to the Falls of Pecogama, 270 miles, the total descent is 324 feet; thence to Pine River, 200 miles, the fall is 165 feet; thence to Crow Wing, 47 miles, it is 49 feet. Below this are the Sauk Rapids, then the Rapids and Falls of St. Anthony, 18 feet at a leap and 66 feet in a single mile; then the Rock Island Rapids, 22 feet; and the Des Moines Rapids, 24 feet. The total descent between Lake Itasca and the mouth of the Ohio is 1,285 feet.

PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF THE REBELLION.

York, Neb.

Please give the dates of the principal battles of the rebellion, who commanded in each, and the number killed on both sides.

J. I. Mosbarger.

Answer.—Bull Run (first), July 21, 1861: North, General McDowell; killed, 481: South, General Beauregard; killed, unknown. Shiloh, April 7, 1862: North, General Grant; killed, 1,735; South General A. S. Johnston; killed, 1,728. Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 1862: North, General McClellan; killed, 890; South, General J. E. Johnston; killed, 2,800. Antietam, Sept. 16 and 17, 1862; North, General McClellan; killed, 2,010; South, General Lee; killed, 3,500. Chancellorsville, May 2 and 3, 1863: North, General Hooker; killed, 1,512: South, General Jackson; killed, 1,581. Gettysburg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863; North, General Meade; killed, 2,834; South, General Lee; killed, 3,500. Vicksburg, July 3 and 4, 1863: North, General Grant; killed, 545: South, General Pemberton; killed, unknown. Chickamauga, Sept. 19-23, 1863: North, General Thomas; killed, 1,644; South, General Bragg; killed, 2,389. Wilderness, May 5, 6, and 7, 1864: North, General Grant; killed, 5,597; South, General Lee; killed, 2,000. Spottsylvania, May 8-21, 1864: North, General Grant; killed, 4,177; South, General Lee; killed, 1,000. The above figures are based on medical official returns, and do not agree with returns of Adjutant General. No two reports agree. Adjutant General makes killed at Wilderness 2,261, and at Spottsylvania 2,270; while General Meade’s report, based on reports immediately after the battle, states killed at Wilderness at 3,288; at Spottsylvania 2,146.

SILVER COINS AT A PREMIUM.

Hebron, Ind.

Can you give a list of the United States silver coins that are at a premium?

Frank Richards.

Answer.—There is a considerable demand for United States silver coins of rare issues to complete collections for coin cabinets. The following are quotations for a few of the rarer coins, taken from two coin price lists, one published in Chicago and the other in Reading, Pa.:

UNITED STATES DOLLARS.
	Reading.	Chicago.
1794, flowing hair	$30.30	$12.50
1795, flowing hair	1.50	1.25
1795, fillet head	1.65	1.25
1796, fillet head	1.65	1.25
1797, fillet head, 6 stars facing	1.75	1.75
1797, fillet head, 7 stars facing	2.00	1.25
1798, fillet head, 13 stars, small eagle	4.75	1.25
1798, fillet head, 15 stars, small eagle	6.00	2.00
1798, 13 stars, large eagle	1.35	1.15
1799, 5 stars facing	2.25	1.40
1799, 6 stars facing	1.25	1.15
1800, spread eagle	1.45	1.25
1801, spread eagle	1.75	1.50
1802, spread eagle	1.45	1.35
1802 over 1801, spread eagle	1.50	1.35
1803, spread eagle	1.50	1.25
1804, excessively rare, “boss dollar”	500.00	200.00
1836, C. Gobrecht’s name in field		6.00
1836, flying eagle		3.00
1838, flying eagle	12.00	15.00
1839, flying eagle	18.00	15.00
1851, liberty seated	18.00	15.00
1852, liberty seated	18.00	15.00
1854, liberty seated	5.50	2.25
1855, liberty seated	3.25	2.00
1856, liberty seated	2.25	1.50
1857, liberty seated	2.75	1.50
1858, liberty seated	20.00	15.00
U. S. HALF DOLLARS.
1794, flowing hair, fair	3.50	2.00
1794, flowing hair, good	5.00	3.25
1796, fillet head, 15 stars	20.00	15.00
1796, fillet head, 16 stars	20.00	16.00
1797, fillet head, 15 stars	20.00	12.50
1801, fillet head	3.50	2.00
1802, fillet head	3.50	2.75
1815, head to left, good	3.50	2.60
1815, head to left, fine	5.00	3.50
1836, liberty cap, milled edge	2.00	2.00
1836, liberty cap, milled fine	2.50	2.50
1838, liberty cap, having “O” mark underhead	7.00	3.00
1852, liberty seated	2.50	1.50
1852, liberty seated, fine	3.50	2.00
QUARTER DOLLARS.
1796, fillet head, fair	2.00	1.75
1796, fillet head, good	3.50	2.00
1804, fillet head, fair	1.50	1.25
1804, fillet head, good	2.00	1.50
1823, head to left, fair	15.00	13.50
1823, head to left, good	25.00	20.00
1827, head to left, fair	15.00	17.50
1827, head to left, good	25.00	20.00
1853, liberty seated, without arrows	5.00	2.50
TWENTY-CENT PIECES.
1877		1.25
1878		1.50
DIMES.
1796, fillet head, fair	.75	1.00
1796, fillet head, good	1.50	1.25
1797, 13 stars, fair	1.00	1.25
1897, 13 stars, good	1.75	1.75
1797, 16 stars, fair	1.00	1.25
1797, 16 stars, good	1.75	1.75
1798, fillet head, fair	.75	1.00
1798, fillet head, good	1.00	1.50
1800, fillet head, fair	.50	1.00
1800, fillet head, good	.75	1.50
1801, fillet head, fair	.75	1.00
1801, fillet head, good	1.00	1.50
1802, fillet head, fair	1.50	1.25
1802, fillet head, good	2.50	2.00
1803, fillet head, fair	1.25	.75
1803, fillet head, good	1.75	1.25
1804, fillet head, fair	4.00	1.75
1804, fillet head, good	5.50	2.00
1800, head to left	1.25	.60
1811, head to left	.70	.60
1822, head to left, fair	1.50	1.50
1822, head to left, fine	2.00	2.00
1846, liberty seated	1.00	.50
HALF DIMES.
1794, flowing hair, fair	2.00	1.25
1794, flowing hair, good	3.00	2.00
1795, flowing hair, good	.70	.50
1796, 15 stars, fillet head, fair	1.50	1.00
1796, 15 stars, fillet head, good	2.00	1.50
1797, 15 stars, fillet head, fair	2.50	.75
1797, 15 stars, fillet head, good	2.50	1.25
1797, 16 stars, fillet head, fair	1.50	.75
1797, 16 stars, fillet head, good	2.50	1.25
1800, fillet head, fair	.40	.25
1800, fillet head, good	.60	.50
1801, fillet head, fair	1.25	.75
1801, fillet head, good	2.00	1.25
1802, fillet head, fair	25.00	10.00
1802, fillet head, fine	40.00	30.00
1803, fillet head, fair	1.25	.75
1803, fillet head, good	2.25	1.25
1805, fillet head, fair	1.50	1.00
1805, fillet head, good	2.50	1.50
1846, liberty seated, without stars, fair	1.50	.50
1846, liberty seated, good	2.00	.75
1846, liberty seated, fine	2.00	1.00
SILVER THREE-CENT PIECES.
1863	.60	.25
1864 to 1869, inclusive		.25
1870, large star in center		.20
1871, large star in center		.20
1872, large star in center		.20
1873, large star in center	.90	.60

Such quotations are subject to frequent fluctuations, but New York auction sales of old United States coins, reported from time to time, indicate that coin purchasers can make a fair profit on the above prices.

THE SALVATION ARMY.

Belle River, Wis.

Will the Curiosity Shop please to give some information regarding the “Salvation Army,” its origin, object, and modes of work?

Answer.—Eighteen years ago, when General Booth began his work in London as a Methodist minister to the artisan classes, he was confronted by the great question, how to bring the gospel to the hearts of the ignorant and degraded so as to make it a vital power. After many trials and failures he began the organization of what is now known as the Salvation Army numbering at present 320 corps, with 760 officers who give their entire time to the work, having over all a “general.” Their creed is the literal gospel, and it is preached by them in no less than 6,200 meetings a week. Their territory is divided into thirteen districts, each under the care of a “major,” who inspects and controls all the corps in his district. To each corps is assigned a “captain,” assisted by one or two “lieutenants,” who devote all their time to conducting meetings, visiting those enlisted, and organizing work among the unconverted. The system of promotion is slow and guarded. When a person professes a change of heart he must at once rise and confess it before his former associates. He is then placed under the supervision of the sergeant of the district in which he resides, whose duty it is to report him to the captain if he fails in the proper performance of any religious duty. He must always wear the letter S in some conspicuous place, and is soon given the charge of a part or the whole of a street. If faithful in these duties, godly in character, and of good general ability, he may be recommended by his captain for promotion. The major refers him to the general, and if he answers satisfactorily a long list of questions asked him by the latter he is sent to the “training barracks” at Clapton, whence, after from six weeks to three months, he is dispatched to some distant field as lieutenant. Each officer is expected to lead from nineteen to twenty-five meetings a week, and spend eighteen hours in visiting families. The army has become so large that the management of affairs devolves upon the majors. Its property is held by an attorney in the name of the general. All who are able must contribute toward the general expenses, and most of the corps are now self-supporting. The salaries are met by general subscription.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF BRITISH ARMIES.

Chicago, Ill.

Who is the present Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-chief of the British armies? Please give an outline of his career.

Inquirer.

Answer.—He is first cousin to Queen Victoria; being the son of Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, tenth child of George III., of whom Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the Queen’s father, was fifth child. He succeeded to the title of his father, July 8, 1850. In 1837 he was promoted to a colonelcy in the British army. In 1854 he was Lieutenant General commanding the first division sent to aid Turkey against Russia in what is known as the Crimean war. He led the troops at Alma and Inkerman. There was a good deal of dissatisfaction expressed at the slow progress of the war, and under the plea of ill-health he returned to England, where, in 1856, he succeeded Viscount Hardinge as Commander-in-chief. In 1862 he was raised to the rank of Field Marshal. He has never married, but—like his Uncle William IV., who lived for many years with Mrs. Jordan, the actress, rearing a numerous illegitimate family by her, and his Uncle Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, who, in violation of the royal marriage act, married a subject, the Lady Augusta Murray, who bore him two illegitimate children—he has persistently lived for many years with Miss Fairbrother, once known as a beautiful actress, by whom he has several illegitimate children, well provided for out of his large income.

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.

Brushy Prairie, Md.

Please give a synopsis of the observations and opinions of the best geologists of the present time as to the antiquity of man upon the earth.

R. Ashley.

Answer.—To summarize the earliest recorded geological evidences of man’s life as briefly as possible it may be said: 1. In the words of Professor Archibald Geikie, of Edinburgh University, “The geological deposits which contain the history of the human period are cavern loam, river alluvia, lake bottoms, peat mosses, and other superficial accumulations.” Human remains are not found imbedded in stratified rock, as in the cases of the fossilized plants and animals of the lower orders. The entire period in which any supposed evidences of the existence of man have been discovered is the Miocene or middle epoch of the Tertiary period. They consist of a few flint flakes, fancied to have been used, possibly, as human implements, but so roughly shaped that it is admitted they may be simply natural; and some bones of animals, scratched as if scraped by men, but more probably by the teeth of wild animals. No geologist of high repute acknowledges any of these crude objects and marks as proof of the existence of man in the Miocene period. It has been claimed that traces of man were found in California, in Calaveras County, and on Table Mountain, in the next later formation, the Pliocene. But M. Favre, reviewing the whole subject up to 1870, and Mr. Evans, President of the Geological Society of London, still later, in 1875, declare that the existence of man in any epoch of the Tertiary period is unproved. 2. The next period is the Quaternary, which immediately precedes the geological epoch in which we are living, known as the “recent epoch.” The Quaternary period is subdivided into three epochs, of which the earliest was the “glacial,” the second the “champlain,” and the third the “terrace.” During the first of these the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and America appear to have been capped with ice down to about the latitude of 40 degrees north. During the second the glaciers melted, the ice cap receded toward the pole, and the greater part of the now cultivable regions of the northern hemisphere were flooded with seas and lakes, underneath which heavy sedimentary deposits were found. During the third epoch land continued to rise; the lakes were drained off; mighty rivers took the place of many of the lakes, cutting deep channels through the old flood plain-deposits left by glaciers and lakes, and leaving terraces or bluffs, such as are seen along the Mississippi, Missouri, and other great rivers. In this formation, in the terraces of the river Somme, near Abbeville, M. Boucher de Perthes discovered, about 1858, chipped flints, associated with the bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros, hyena, horse, etc., which are generally regarded as human implements. Similar discoveries were made at Hoxne, England, in strata underlying the higher level river-gravels, but overlying the glacier deposit, which seems to fix this discovery in the champlain epoch. A well-shaped human skull was found in a cave at Engis, near Liege, Belgium, associated with bones of extinct and living species, beneath a crust of stalagmite, which are believed to belong to the middle or latter part of the Quaternary period. Near Nice, in a cave at Mentone, a few years ago, was found the skeleton of a man, associated with the bones of the cave-bear and the cave-lion—long extinct in that region—and the bones of living species, such as the reindeer and stag, with twenty-two perforated teeth of the stag lying around his head as if they had been worn as a necklace. In what is called the Aurignac cave in France were found seventeen human skeletons of both sexes and all sizes, along with entire bones of extinct animals, and human implements and ornaments. The cave was closed up with a slab, and outside of it was a deposit of ashes and cinders, with burnt and split and knawed bones of extinct animals, covered with talus, or a sloping heap of broken rock and earth. Coming down from these discoveries to those of apparently later times, the habitations of more civilized men have been discovered in what are called the “lake dwellings” of Switzerland, of New Guinea, South America, and in some parts of Africa. Such are the chief indications of the antiquity of man, reckoned by geological periods and epochs; but how to reduce these latter to years is still an unsolved problem; so much so that some geologists claim that the beginning of the terrace epoch, which, as above shown, contains the earliest well-defined human remains, does not extend back more than 7,000 to 10,000 years, while others date it back from 50,000 to 60,000 years. Professor Le Conte sums up his review of this question by saying: “In conclusion, we may say that we have as yet no certain knowledge of man’s time on the earth. It may be 100,000 years, or it may be only 10,000, but more probably the former than the latter.” The fact that the deposits in which human remains and implements have been discovered are all confessedly “superficial” gives opportunity for unending disputations as to the origin of such remains, the date of their deposit, and the time requisite to produce subsequent physical changes.

PALACE OF THE CÆSARS.

Mulberry, Ind.

Please give a description of the Palace of the Cæsars and the “Golden House” of Nero. How far were they apart, and how much did they cost?

J. J. R.

Answer.—The Palace of the Cæsars, if we judge from the Latin authors, was of all palaces of its time the most magnificent. The palace of Augustus, built upon the site of the houses of Cicero and Catiline, was its beginning, and each succeeding Emperor altered and improved it. Tiberius and Caligula enlarged it, Nero added his Golden House, and Titus used the portion on the Esquiline Hill for his famous baths. It is now a mass of shapeless ruins, extending over three hills of Rome, and covering an area 1,500 feet in length and 1,300 feet in width, giving no hint of what it once was in architecture or embellishment. All is left to the imagination of the poet except the beauty of the Golden House, which soon outrivaled the splendor of the older palace of which it was a part. It is said to have been the houses of Augustus and Maecenas connected by arches and columns, and it extended over the Palatine, Esquiline, and Cælian Hills of Rome. The interior was covered with gold and precious stones, and adorned with the finest paintings and statuary that the world afforded. The circular banquet hall, perpetually revolving in imitation of the apparent motion of the sun about the earth, had vaulted iron ceilings, which, opening, scattered flowers upon the guests, and golden pipes through which ran sweet perfumes. In the vestibule stood Nero’s statue, 120 feet in height. The palace was surrounded by a triple portico a mile in length, and supported by a thousand columns, and within this lay an immense lake, whose banks were bordered by great buildings, each representing a little city, about which lay green pastures and groves, where sported “all animals, both tame and wild.” It is impossible to learn how much these palaces cost. They were not far apart, but reference to Tacitus Annals shows that they were distinct structures.

HOMEOPATHY IN THE UNITED STATES.

Cambridge, Ill.

Please inform me, if you can, who was the first teacher of homeopathy in this country, and the extent to which the practice of it has spread.

W. N. Boyer, M. D.

Answer.—It is generally conceded that Hans B. Gram, a native of Boston, who studied in Denmark, introduced homeopathy into the United States in the year 1825. There are now twelve colleges of this school of medicine in this country, graduating from 300 to 400 students a year—380 in 1880—45 homeopathic dispensaries; over 30 hospitals; 15 periodicals devoted to this practice; and about 7,500 physicians and surgeons.

NEBRASKA AND LINCOLN’S MONUMENT.

Fremont, Neb.

To settle a dispute, state whether Nebraska voted $500 toward the National Lincoln Monument at Springfield, Ill., and then took it back, or refused to pay it over to the Monument Association.

A. C. F.

Answer.—By an act approved Feb. 15, 1869, the Legislature of Nebraska appropriated $500 “to aid in the construction of the National Lincoln Monument at or near Springfield, Ill.” In September, 1882, when visiting the monument, the Hon. Isham Reavis, of Falls City, Neb., who voted for this appropriation, learned incidentally from Mr. J. C. Power, the custodian, that the Association had never received the money. On his return to Nebraska he went to Lincoln, and by examination of the Auditor’s books found that the $500 had never been remitted, and that in due time it had by operation of law been covered back into the treasury with other unexpended balances. With the hearty co-operation of the Hon. C. H. Gere, of the Nebraska State Journal, who as a member of the Senate had participated in the act of appropriation, Judge Reavis induced leading members of the last Legislature to revive the appropriation. The Legislature of New York had set an example some time before by the reappropriation of the $10,000 which it had voted to the monument, but which had been permitted to lapse before it had been called for. Having been informed that the monument was then about complete, that the association was not in debt, and that the receipts from visitors for admission to the monument pay all current expenses, but that if the Nebraska appropriation was paid over it would be used in embellishing the nine acres of ground surrounding the monument, the Legislature, on or about Feb. 23, 1883, reappropriated the original amount of $500. After all, therefore, Nebraska has a share in this splendid memorial to the immortal Lincoln.

LOW TARIFF AND FIAT MONEY.

Emporia, Kan.

Your reply to J. R. Thompson has awakened in my mind a desire to know more about the Japanese currency and financial conditions. What led to the issue of the Japanese “fiat money,” as you call it? Was this paper money “convertible?” What was it based on? When was it redeemable, and how? What was the financial standing of the government at the time, and what is it now?

E. D. Humphrey.

Answer.—The treaties made with Japan by foreign nations when that country was wholly unsophisticated in treaty-making and inexperienced in the laws of international commerce, provided for the admission of foreign products on what is practically a free-trade basis. As a consequence, the balance of trade has for years past been against Japan, her exports being considerably less in value than her imports. For example, in 1880 the exports from Japan to Great Britain (which country gets two-thirds of the whole Japanese foreign trade) amounted to only £531,621, while the British “home produce” alone imported into Japan amounted to £3,290,906. Again and again Japan, seeing the ruinous effects on home industry resulting from the too moderate tariff fixed by the foreign treaties, has sought to get a modification of those treaties permitting her to increase the tariff, but thus far with little effect. Of course the difference between the value of the imports and exports has to be paid in the precious metals. The country was already suffering from this drain of bullion, when a civil war broke out in 1868, and the government was forced to issue paper currency to meet its ordinary and extraordinary expenses. This first issue bore a promise of redemption at the end of thirteen years; but, though the rebellion had been put down and a peaceful and, in many respects, a strong, progressive government had been established, this government was not in a condition to keep its promises, and the old currency issue was replaced with a new one, without any stipulation as to when it should be redeemed. The people looked upon it with distrust, and, although it was a legal tender, it was not long before it dropped to 50 cents on the dollar as compared with specie. The government took warning, entered upon a contraction of expenditures, strove to inspire confidence in the currency, and by contracting the volume somewhat, it has raised the value of its paper money to about 75 cents on the dollar.

When Japan opened its ports to foreign commerce it was substantially without debt. It is not even now heavily burdened, and could it once check the influx of foreign goods and so develop its home productions as to bring exports and imports to something like an equilibrium, its financial condition would be superior to that of most other countries. Its foreign debt in January, 1875, amounted to no more than £3,400,000, which had been reduced by the action of the sinking fund to £2,134,700 at the end of 1881; and its home debt in July, 1880, stood at £69,406,919—a total of about $357,700,000; of which $108,000,000 was the “fiat money,” or irredeemable paper currency above described.

MEANING OF A AND AP IN SURNAMES.

Greenville, Ill.

What do the abbreviations a and ap before a surname denote?

Sea.

Answer.—These particles, “a” and “ap,” are abbreviations of Latin prepositions meaning “of” and “at” or “from.” Generally, when connected with names, they refer to the town or place where one was born, or the family estate. In the case, for example, of Thomas a Kempis, author of that famous work entitled “Imitation of Christ,” which has been translated into more languages than any other book, save the Bible, the “a” denotes “from.” His family name was Thomas Hammerken. He was born in 1379 or 1380 in the town of Kempen, near Cologne. He was educated first at Deventer, then at Zwolle, and in the Convent of St. Agnes. After the custom of the times at these schools, he was known as “Thomas from Kempen,” and, finally, as happened in many other such cases, the school name pushed aside the family name.

TROPICAL PLANTS IN LABRADOR.

Tingley, Iowa.

Have any tropical plants been discovered in the rocks of Labrador? If so, where and by whom?

James S. Williams.

Answer..—Tropical vegetation once existed far north of Labrador, as is shown by fossil remains discovered in Greenland, Iceland and Spitzbergen; but we do not know whether similar discoveries have been made in Labrador. We must refer you to Hind’s “Explorations of the Labrador Peninsula,” and Bell’s “Report of the Geological Survey of Canada,” 1879.

CURING BASKET WILLOW.

Winneconne, Wis.

In your edition of July 26 is an inquiry on the basket willow from T. H. Davis, of Loveland, Col. I think the answer right all but the directions for curing. In England I have seen them set the willows, after they are cut, in bundles, standing in a pond or stream of water, butts down, with stakes and poles to keep them in position. In the spring, when the sap rises, peel them by drawing through a crotched stake set firm in the ground and faced in the crotch with iron. If the willow is allowed to dry before peeling it will be hard to get the bark off and the wood will be discolored.

F. Lightfoot.

JEAN PAUL RICHTER.

Oconomowoc, Wis.

Will you oblige me with a short sketch of Jean Paul Richter. How is Richter pronounced?

A Reader.

Answer.—Jean Paul Friedrick Richter was one of the most original characters in the literary world. He was a man of much general information, but of erratic genius. It has been said that he wrote in “gems,” so filled are his works with beautiful ideas. But his style is too careless and his thoughts too rambling to place him among classical writers. He was born at Wunsiedel, in Bavaria, March 21, 1763. Though, when quite young, his father’s death left the family in poverty, Jean Paul resolved to go to Leipsic, and by the greatest self-sacrifice he accomplished his resolve. At the end of four years, however, he was obliged to leave the town secretly to escape being arrested for debt. He now abandoned the idea of entering the church and taught for a few years, writing meanwhile. When, in 1794, he began his visits to German literary centers, he found himself the idol of the ladies, who treasured even the shorn locks of his poodle, and sometimes ventured to propose to the eccentric author himself. But he rejected them all, and in 1801 chose for himself the brilliant Caroline Mayer, of Berlin. Ever afterward the King of Bavaria gave him an annual pension of 1,000 florins and he received the degree of doctor from the University of Heidelberg. In his later years his mental strength failed and in 1824 he became totally blind. He died at Bayreuth Nov. 14, 1825, surrounded by loving friends. His character, though eccentric, was beautiful in its gentleness and philanthropy. The poor were his chief mourners. Carlyle has translated some of his writings and found in him a theme for two of his best essays. The ch in Richter’s name has the same sound as in the German word for book. It can be learned properly only by oral instruction.

INVENTOR OF COTTON GIN-WHITNEY.

Windsor, Ill.

Please give some items connected with the life of Eli Whitney.

Subscriber.

Answer.—Eli Whitney, a graduate of Yale College in 1792, was induced to invent a machine for cleaning cotton by the widow of Nathaniel Greene, with whom he boarded while studying law. He patented the cotton-gin, but the idea was stolen by other parties, and it was only after years of litigation that he obtained the $50,000 which had been voted him for the invention by the Legislature of Georgia. In 1793 he established a manufactory for the machine near Washington, Ga., but five years later he turned his attention to the improvement of firearms, reaping a fortune therefrom.

ISINGLASS.

Glenallin, D. T.

Please tell me how isinglass is made, and whether the raw material is valuable.

A. H. Chase.

Answer.—The raw material of isinglass is the air bladders or sounds of fish, and is invaluable except for this one purpose. In Russia, where the finest isinglass is made, the sounds of the sturgeon are cut open and steeped in water until the outer membrane separates from the inner; then the latter is washed and dried in the sun. The sounds of the common cod, the hake, and other gadidae are also used for isinglass.

MOCHA ISLAND.

Chicago, Ill.

Is there an island by the name of Mocha? If so, please describe it. Also tell where Mocha coffee grows.

Henry Collins.

Answer..—There is an Island named Mocha off the coast of Auracania, belonging to Chili. It is about eight miles long, very broken, and at the north end mountainous, rising to 1,230 feet above the sea. Whalers occasionally resort to it for wood and water, both of which are scarce, while the landing is bad. There is a portion of Southwest Abyssinia called Mocha. But the place by this name that is of most importance is a fortified port on the Arabian side of the Red Sea. It gives its name to the finest variety of coffee known to commerce, most of which is produced in the interior of Arabia, in the province of Yemen.

A SPORTING TERM—HIGH-BINDER.

Aledo, Ill.

What is the meaning of “high-binder,” an old sporting term, I think?

Joseph Whittaus.

Answer.—The high-binder is an athlete, such as a circus tumbler and jumper. The term is sometimes applied to horses that jump hurdles and ditches, or steeple-chasers.

UNITED BRETHREN.

Kingman, Kan.

What is the date of the founding of the sect known as the United Brethren in Christ; what are the present statistics of the church, and how does it differ from the Methodist Episcopal Church?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—This sect was founded among the Germans in Pennsylvania by Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm in 1760. In 1875 they numbered 4,010 churches, 1,967 ministers, 136,076 members, and their church property was valued at more than $2,500,000. The church has ten educational institutions in Western States, and a large printing establishment at Dayton, Ohio. The members are sometimes called German Methodists, as their faith is Arminian; but their church polity is a mixture of Methodism, Congregationalism, and Presbyterianism. Like the Methodists, they have quarterly, annual, and general conferences, but their bishops are elected for only four years. They are very severe in the requirements of candidates for membership, admitting none who are members of secret societies or sanction slavery and the use of alcoholic liquors.

EMBER DAYS.

Champaign, Ill.

What is understood by the ember days?

N. Zeigler.

Answer.—The ember days are days set apart in the calendar of the Romish and Episcopal Churches for the purpose of fasting and prayer, imploring a divine blessing upon the fruits of the earth, and upon the ordinations performed at that time. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, in the week following the first Sunday in Lent, Whitsunday, the 14th of September, and the 13th of December, are called ember days, and the weeks in which they occur are called ember weeks.

VICTOR HUGO’S WORKS.

Vienna, Iowa.

Please give a sketch of the life of Victor Hugo, the poet and novelist. Name some of his most noted writings, and where they may be found?

H. S. Ellwanger.

Answer.—A brief biographical sketch of Victor Hugo may be found in Our Curiosity shop for 1880. His earlier novels are “Han d’Islande,” “Bug-Jargal,” and “Notre Dame de Paris;” his dramas, “Cromwell,” “Marion Delorme,” “Le Roi s’amuse,” “Lucrèce Borgia,” “Ruy Blas,” and “Hernani;” his poems, “Les Feuilles d’Automne,” “Les Chants du Crépuscule,” and while an exile upon the island of Guernsey he added “Les Misérables,” “Les Travailleurs de la Mer,” “L’Homme qui Rit,” and “Quatrevingt-Treize.” Since then he has published his “Speeches,” the “Légende des Siècles,” “L’Histoire d’un Crime,” and a poem, “Le Pape.” He is one of the most original and perhaps the most popular writer of fiction and lyric verse France has ever produced.

PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE.

Wausau, Wis.

Please give the names of the Presidents of the United States Senate up to date. How long do the Presidents pro tempore retain that position? Give the names of Speakers of the House of Representatives, beginning with the Forty-second Congress.

N. A. S.

Answer.—The Vice President of the United States is President of the Senate when sitting in that body, but in his absence a President pro tempore is proposed and chosen by ballot. “His office is understood to be determined on the Vice President appearing and taking the chair, or at the meeting of the Senate after the first recess.” (See Jefferson’s Manual.) The persons who have presided over the Senate are: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, George Clinton, William H. Crawford, Elbridge Gerry, John Gaillard, Daniel D. Tompkins, John C. Calhoun, Hugh L. White, Martin Van Buren, Richard M. Johnson, John Tyler, Samuel L. Southard, Willie P. Mangum, George M. Dallas, Millard Fillmore, William R. King, David R. Atkinson, Jesse D. Bright, John C. Breckinridge, Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson, Lafayette S. Foster, Benjamin F. Wade, Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson, Thomas W. Ferry, William A. Wheeler, Chester A. Arthur, David Davis, and the present incumbent, George F. Edmunds. It is not worth while to mention those who have filled the chair only for a few hours at a time. The Speakers since the Forty-second Congress have been James G. Blaine, Michael C. Kerr, Samuel J. Randall, and J. Warren Keifer.

DAVID H. STROTHER—“PORTE CRAYON.”

Chicago, Ill.

Kindly give the right name of the author of “Virginian Illustrated,” “Life in the Old Dominion,” “Virginian Canaan,” etc., which appeared in Harper’s Monthly, vols. 6 to 12, under the nom de plume of “Porte Crayon.” What became of him? Is he still living?

James Butcher.

Answer.—The real name of this author is David Hunter Strother. He was born in Virginia, in 1816, studied art in New York; first became known to the public as “Porte Crayon” in 1853; entered the Union army as Captain in 1864, resigned, and in 1867 was brevetted Brigadier General; after the war, published in Harper’s Monthly a series of “Personal Reminiscences of the War;” and in 1879 went to Mexico as Consul General, an office he still holds.

THE GUINEA PIG.

Waterville, Kan.

Will you please tell me, through your department, the nature and origin of the Guinea pigs? Where do they come from, and how often in a year do they breed?

“Magnolia.”

Answer.—Properly speaking, the “Guinea pig” (cava caboya) is not a pig, but a rodent closely related to the restless cavy of Uraguay and Brazil, belonging to the same natural order as the rat and beaver. Like the cavidae, it burrows in the ground, and feeds upon fruits and herbs. Its chief value consists in its beauty, which may be described thus: A white fur, patched with red and black, covering a little animal a foot long and weighing from a pound to a pound and a half—a creature inoffensive and helpless in the extreme, exceedingly restless, and not remarkably intelligent. It is supposed that this cavy was carried from South America to Europe in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and there domesticated; and that its name is a corruption of Guiana pig. It is very prolific, beginning to breed at the age of two months, and rearing a brood of four to twelve three times a year.

DARIUS AND THE SCYTHIANS.

Geneva, Ill.

In “Gibbon’s Rome,” Vol. III., chap. 26, page 13, we find the following foot-note: “When Darius advanced into the Moldavian desert, between the Danube and the Niester, the King of the Scythians sent him a mouse, a frog, a bird, and five arrows; a tremendous allegory!” What did this allegory signify?

C. P. Dutton.

Answer.—It has been variously interpreted. The following is the meaning given it by some writers: “You make war (the arrows) on a people you cannot conquer until you can subsist on roots and wild grain like the mouse, inhabit either land or water, like the frog, and flee with the swiftness of a bird.” Another rendering is: “We subsist in the wild fields like the mouse; live either on land or water, like the frog; flee like the bird, and slay our pursuers as we flee, for our right hands are full of arrows for our enemies.” Darius Hystaspes had demanded an offering of earth and water from them as a token of submission, and this was the answer of these invincible barbarians; and they made good their allegory. As Darius pursued them with an army of 700,000 men they led him farther and farther, through forests, swamps, and deserts, until his troops died of fatigue, malaria, and famine, and he was compelled to return, utterly defeated in his object, leaving all but a mere remnant of his immense army dead in the wilderness.

THE MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVERS.

Yellowstone, Wis.

The “New American Dictionary” says that the Missouri is the longest river in the world, 4,194 miles, and that the Mississippi is 3,200. “Wilson’s Geography” says the Mississippi is 4,396, and the Missouri is 3,960 miles long. Please tell us which is right, and the reasons for these variations.

James Lyons.

Answer.—The fact is that the precise lengths of the chief rivers of the globe are not known. They shift their channels and wind to such a degree as renders it a difficult problem to determine the exact length of any one of them, and exactness in such cases is not as yet a matter of sufficient practical importance to justify the expense of making accurate measurements. If it were, it would be found that every great river varies in length from time to time by cutting new channels for itself. As a consequence all statements are only estimates, and scarcely two original writers precisely agree. The latest edition of “Lippincott’s Gazetteer of the World” does not presume to speak positively, but says: “The Mississippi is about 3,000 miles long (or, as some say, 3,160).” Speaking of the Missouri, it says: “The total length of the stream, from its source to the Gulf of Mexico, is computed to be 4,300 miles.” “Chambers’ Universal Knowledge” says the Mississippi River is 2,986 miles long from its source to its mouth, and that from the latter to the source of the Missouri is 4,506 miles. Probably Lippincott’s statements are nearest to the truth, but none of them claim to be absolute measurement.

WHY EASTER IS A MOVABLE FEAST.

Chicago, Ill.

Why does Christmas always fall on the same day of the month, while the days celebrated in commemoration of Christ’s death and ascension change? I have submitted this question to several ministers and other learned persons without receiving a satisfactory answer.

Buscando.

Answer.—Christ was crucified on Friday, the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan, and rose from the dead on the following Sunday. The 14th of Nisan was the Jewish “passover,” the day observed by them in commemoration of the sprinkling of their door-posts with the blood of the paschal lamb on the night when the “Destroying Angel” passed over the dwellings of the Israelites but smote the first-born of the Egyptians. As the year of the Jews is a lunar year, and the 14th of Nisan is always a full-moon day, the Christian Church, regarding the observance of the crucifixion of Christ as a substitute for the passover of the Jewish Church, determine Good Friday and Easter Sunday by the rules for reckoning the Jewish ecclesiastical year. Christmas, intended to commemorate the birth of Christ, had no connection with the ritual of the old church, and, like some two or three hundred other immovable feast days of the Church of Rome, many of them birthdays of saints, it was finally settled that it should be observed on a given day of the common calendar.

OMAHA INDIAN RESERVATION.

Boone, Iowa.

Isn’t it about time that the Omaha Indian Reservation was opened for settlement, under the act of Congress approved Aug. 7, 1882?

Granger.

Answer.—The same question, substantially, comes to The Inter Ocean at least once a week from one part of the country or another. In reply to an inquiry, the Acting Commissioner of the General Land Office recently wrote as follows:

Washington, Aug. 4.—Editor of Inter Ocean: In reply to your inquiry of the 17th ult., I have to state that this office is unable to say what time will elapse before the Omaha Indian Reservation, in Nebraska, will be open to settlement. The requirements of the act of Aug. 7, 1882, as to appraisement, have not yet been fully complied with, and these lands are still under the jurisdiction of the Office of Indian Affairs. Yours respectfully,

Luther Harrison,
Acting Commissioner.

The substance of the act above referred to is given in Our Curiosity Shop for 1882, pages 113 and 128.

FIRST AMERICAN FREE SCHOOLS.

Douglass, Kan.

Where and in what year were free schools first established in this country? Who was the first advocate of them? When did they become general?

Henry Butler.

Answer.—A law was passed in Massachusetts in 1649 requiring every township to maintain a free school, and every town of 100 families to maintain a grammar school to “fit youths for the university;” and it is recorded in 1665 that a free school was then supported by each town in New England. The Connecticut, Plymouth, and New Haven Colonies soon followed this good example of Massachusetts, either in whole or in part. The first public school in Pennsylvania was established in Philadelphia by the Quakers, in 1689, free to those who could not pay. In 1694 Maryland enacted that every county should have a public school, and every parish a free library of at least fifty volumes. A free grammar school was established in New York by an act passed in 1702, but a system of free common schools was not inaugurated in this State until after 1795, in which year, on the recommendation of Governor Clinton, the Legislature appropriated $50,000 to encourage the establishment of common schools—not wholly free. It was years after this before the system of schools free to all (except colored children) went into general operation in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The Southern States waited until after the war before adopting the free-school system even for white children. Their common schools were free only for the children of confessed paupers. Who was “the first advocate” of free schools it is now impossible to determine positively. Several of them came over in the Mayflower, as there were a few free schools in Massachusetts before the above enactment of 1649, making it obligatory on every town to have them, the chief argument then being that “every child must know how to read the Bible.”

CORDOVA, MEXICO.

Union City, Iowa.

My regiment was stationed at Cordova, Mexico, at the close of the Mexican war. How old is that city, by whom was it founded, and what is its present population?

M. W. V.

Answer.—Cordova, situated about fifty-seven miles inland from Vera Cruz, Mexico, is now a city of 6,500 to 7,000 inhabitants. The district around it is very fertile, and the tobacco, sugar, coffee, and cotton produced here foster an increasing trade. Its streets are regularly laid out and well paved; most of the houses are built of stone, and the fine cathedral is much admired for its interior architecture and decorations. The city was founded by the early Spanish adventurers and missionaries on the site of an old Aztec town, and named in honor of the forerunner of Cortez, Francisco Fernandez de Cordova, the discoverer of Yucatan and the southeastern extremity of Mexico, in the year 1517. The date of the first Spanish settlement is uncertain.

MARSHAL KEITH.

Fairmont., Neb.

Who was Marshal Keith, “the noble exile,” killed at the battle of Hochkirchen?

W. P. Jacks.

Answer.—He was Francis Edward James Keith, a Scotch nobleman, born at Inverngie Castle, Aberdeenshire, in 1696. He and his elder brother, the Earl Marischal, espoused the cause of the “Elder Pretender,” as he is called, James Francis Edward, son of the deposed James II. of England, in the insurrection of 1715. That affair ended in speedy disaster, and being attainted of treason, he fled to France. Here after some two years, spent for the most part in study at the University of Paris, he took part in the disastrous expedition of the Pretender to the highlands of Scotland in 1719. Escaping again to France, he lived in obscurity and want, first at Paris and then at Madrid, until he received a colonel’s commission in the army of the King of Spain. Here his Protestantism stood in the way of his promotion, and he soon took a recommendation from the King to Peter II. of Russia, in whose service he soon rose to the rank of general. In 1747 he entered the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia, who made him a field marshal, accounting him one of his ablest generals. Quick to discern the military exigencies and opportunities of the moment, and prompt to avail himself of them, “sagacious, skillful, imperturbable, without fear and without noise, a man quietly ever ready,” as Carlyle describes him, he had the full confidence, and even won the affection, of Frederick, who was wont to place him in the most responsible positions. He was killed Oct. 14, 1758, in the battle of Hochkirch, in which Frederick the Great suffered one of the most terrible defeats of that bloody war at the hands of the combined Austrian and Prussian armies.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN ALL THE WORLD.

Salmon City, D. T.

Please give the origin of the Sunday school, where and by whom first started, and the number of such schools in this country, and, so far as known, in the whole world.

W. H. Andrews.

Answer.—The following statistics of Sunday schools were reported by Mr. E. P. Porter to the Robert Raikes Centennial Convention held in London, England, June 28, to July 3, 1880. They comprise only those of the “Evangelical denominations,” and are incomplete even for this class of schools. Full returns, including the enrollment in schools of denominations not classed by Mr. Porter as Evangelical, probably would increase the above aggregate by from 20 to 25 per cent.

Countries.	Teachers.	Scholars.	Total.
Europe	550,001	5,332,813	5,882,814
Asia	1,772	38,000	39,772
Africa	300	15,000	15,300
N. America	931,740	6,974,454	7,906,194
S. America	3,000	150,000	153,000
Oceanica	17,800	170,000	187,800
Total	1,504,613	12,680,267	14,184,880

The numbers reported for the United States, at the above convention, were as follows: Schools, 82,261; teachers, 886,328; scholars, 66,233,124. Your other questions are all answered with great care on pages 58 and 96 of Our Curiosity Shop, in book form, for 1882; price per mail, 25 cents.

SCHOOLS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

Miles, Iowa.

How do the public school privileges of Ireland compare with those of England?

H. G. Bryant.

Answer.—The total population of Ireland in 1881 was 5,159,839. The total number of national schools in 1880 was 7,590, with 1,083,020 pupils, aided by a parliamentary grant of £722,366, or about $3,611,830. The population of Great Britain proper—England, Wales and Scotland—was 29,703,859 in 1881, and the number of public schools inspected in 1880 was 20,670, with an attendance of 3,155,534 pupils. The parliamentary grant amounted to £2,468,077, or about $12,340,385, so that the parliamentary grant in aid of primary education in Ireland is about 70 cents per capita of the total population, while for England, Wales and Scotland it is only about 41 cents. The above figures cover only the national schools for elementary instruction, in addition to which there are hundreds of parochial, or denominational and private schools in both countries. In Ireland, in 1880, there were 158 workhouse schools under the superintendency of the National Board, with an enrollment of 16,945, and an average attendance of 8,880. There were fifty-two industrial schools in 1879, with 4,979 inmates. There were in 1880, ninety-four school farms, nineteen school gardens, and a large number of agricultural schools under local management. The total number of pupils who entered the examination in agriculture in 1880 was 33,648, of whom 15,652 passed. The statistics of industrial schools in England, Wales, and Scotland are not conveniently obtainable.

SUNLIGHT OVERFLOWS THE HEMISPHERE.

Happy Hollow, Ill.

The sun being so much larger than the earth, does not a little more than one-half of the earth’s surface receive its rays at the same time?

W. C. Colgrove.

Answer.—A little more than half of the earth’s surface is illuminated by the sun at any given moment. There is a very slight extension of the area of illumination for the reason you mention, and beyond that an extension of from thirty-five to forty miles all around on account of horizontal refraction. If you put a silver coin into a bowl, then stand back until the edge barely hides the coin, and while you keep this same position another person fills the bowl with water, you will see the bottom of it seem to lift until the coin comes into sight. This is because the rays of light reflected from the bottom of the bowl are bent out of a straight line in passing through the water and out into the thinner medium, the air. This is called refraction. The rays of light from the setting sun are bent downward in a similar manner as they enter the earth’s atmosphere, and so the sun appears to be above the horizon a little more than two minutes after it has actually dropped below the true horizon. A difference of two minutes in time corresponds to a distance of thirty miles on the earth’s surface.

THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT.

Sandusky, Iowa,

1. Does Parliament serve the same purposes in Great Britain as Congress does in the United States? 2. How is Parliament constituted?

A. C. Starin.

Answer.—Like the Congress of the United States, the British Parliament legislates for the whole nation. But, in addition to this, it takes the place of the separate legislative bodies that used to exist in Scotland and Ireland, and makes local laws for England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, such as in this country can only be made by State Legislatures. As regards the Dominion of Canada, the Australian Provinces, and other colonial possessions, with legislatures of their own, the powers of Parliament are somewhat analogous to those of Congress over the States. 2. Parliament is composed of two houses, the Lords and the Commons. The House of Lords consists of peers who hold their seats either by virtue of hereditary right; by creation of the sovereign (who is unrestricted in his power of creating peers); by virtue of office, as the English bishops; by election for life, as the Irish peers; or by election for duration of Parliament, as the Scottish peers. This House, in the session of 1882, consisted of 516 members, of whom 5 were peers of the blood royal, 2 were archbishops, 22 were dukes, 19 marquises, 117 earls, 26 viscounts, 24 bishops, 257 barons, 16 Scottish peers, and 28 Irish representative peers. More than two-thirds of these hereditary peerages have been created within the present century—over one-third of them by the present sovereign, which marks one of the strongest factors of the power of the Crown. In the same year the Commons consisted of 639 members, classified as “knights of the shire,” or representatives of counties; “citizens,” or representatives of cities; and “burgesses,” or representatives of boroughs—all of whom hold office by election. The qualifications of electors were given in an article published in Our Curiosity Shop a few months ago. The total number of these electors in 1882 was 3,134,801.

REMOVAL OF ARTHUR FROM CUSTOM HOUSE.

Milwaukee, Wis.

Why did President Hayes remove Chester A. Arthur from the New York Custom House? Was he charged with dishonesty?

S. J. Smith.

Answer.—There was no official charge or imputation of dishonesty against Chester A. Arthur when in the New York Custom House. His administration of that office was a great improvement on any preceding one for many years back. He had effected great reforms and ousted officers who had fattened on corruption under his predecessors. President Hayes distinctly disclaimed any want of faith in Mr. Arthur’s integrity as a cause for replacing him, and the official reports of Secretary Sherman bore unequivocal testimony to the efficiency of the Collector’s administration of his difficult office, and clearly recognized his personal integrity. Mr. Arthur did not approve certain changes which Secretary Sherman wished to make, and he was known also to be in sympathy with Mr. Conkling and others not favorable to Secretary Sherman’s aspirations for the Presidency. It is generally believed that the above were the chief reasons for the Secretary’s desire to supersede Mr. Arthur, which finally prevailed.

ROGER BACON.

Melvin, Ill.

Please tell us something of the life and works of Roger Bacon.

A. Buckholz.

Answer.—Roger Bacon was an English monk of penetrating intellect, who by his scientific investigations and writings greatly advanced the cause of science in a time when the study of nature had been supplanted by the theological disputations and philosophical speculations of the “schoolmen.” He was born near Ilchester, England, in the year 1214, of a respectable family. He graduated at Oxford and Paris, and, entering the order of Franciscan monks, settled at Oxford, where he devoted himself to the study of physics. His discoveries were looked upon as wonderful by the ignorant, and were made the means by his clerical brethren of bringing him into disfavor with the Pope, who deprived him of his professorship. He was imprisoned for some years, until the elevation of Clement II. to the Papal throne. Despite the Franciscan interdiction, Clement requested Bacon to send him his writings, and, in answer, John of London became the bearer to the Pope of “Opus Majus” and two other works. For ten years Bacon was at liberty, but in 1278 he was again imprisoned, and the reading of his works forbidden. Through the intercession of many influential English noblemen, his release was granted shortly before his death, which occurred in 1292 or 1294. He wrote much, but several of his works have not been printed. Chief among his inventions was the magnifying glass, and his superior knowledge won for him the title, “Doctor Mirabilis.” He sought to know nature through the study of mathematics and by investigation. He pointed out the errors in the calendar, growing out of the old style of reckoning, long before Pope Gregory instituted the present calendar. As a Latin writer, his style was elegant and forcible; as a scientific scholar, he was fully two centuries in advance of his age; as a man, his character was pure and noble.

THE SPHINX—GUNPOWDER.

1. Is the Sphinx made of one solid block of stone, or is it built of mortar and brick? 2. Who invented gunpowder?

A. L.

Answer.—1. The “great Sphinx” at Gizeh, Egypt, only 300 feet east of the second pyramid, was hewn out of the natural rock where it stands. It measures 172 feet 6 inches long by 52 feet high. 2. Nearly all authorities agree in referring the invention of gunpowder to China or India, the weight of evidence being in favor of crediting it to the former.

COUNTIES LARGER THAN STATES.

Columbia, D. T.

Is it true that Brown County, D. T., contains a larger area than Rhode Island? Please give the exact figures.

R. A.

Answer.—Brown County, D. T., contains forty-eight Congressional townships, or, disregarding fractional sections, 1,728 square miles; whereas the area of Rhode Island is but 1,250 square miles. There are several counties of Dakota that are larger than Delaware, which contains but 2,050 square miles; such, for example, as Grand Forks, Pembina, and Burleigh. Some of the unorganized counties are as large as Connecticut. It will not be long before, following the practice in the most thickly settled parts of the Territory, these undergrown but over-extended counties will be subdivided into smaller ones of sixteen to twenty townships, the ordinary size of an Iowa county, each about half the size of “Little Rhody.”

LORD BYRON.

Garnavillo, Iowa.

Please give a sketch of Lord Byron.

William A. Kregel.

Answer.—George Gordon, Lord Byron, was born in London in the year 1788, and at the age of 11 succeeded to the title and estate of his grand uncle, William, Lord Byron, near Nottingham. In 1807, two years after entering Trinity College, he published his first volume of poems, entitled “Hours of Idleness.” Stung by the sarcastic criticism on these poems by Lord Brougham in the Edinburgh Review, he soon after wrote “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,” a scathing satire, and at once sailed for Turkey and Greece. “Childe Harold” and a few shorter poems were written between the years 1812 and 1818. After a year of riotous living in Italy he sailed for Greece in 1823, and took a conspicuous part in the struggle for Greek independence. In this he succeeded so far as to restore comparative order to the disorganized army, but his health soon began to fail, and exposure to a storm induced a fever which terminated his life, April 10, 1824. His body was interred in the Huckwall church-yard, being denied admission to Westminster Abbey. Byron undoubtedly possessed great genius and wrote many beautiful and ennobling poems, but his restless and passionate temper and the immorality of his life tainted most of what he wrote and debarred him from the list of really great English poets. In descriptive power, fervor, imagery, and melody his powers were marvelous, and many passages in his writings are unsurpassed in these respects by anything in the English language.

TIN AND TARIFF.

Beloit, Wis.

What is meant by “tin and terne plates,” and what is the gist of the demand of the “American Tinned Plate Association” for an increase of the duty on these plates?

Subscriber.

Answer.—“Tin plates” are plates of sheet-iron or soft steel, coated with tin, used chiefly for making household and dairy utensils, and for cans of all sorts. “Terne plates” are iron or soft steel sheets, coated with mixed lead and tin, used for roofing and similar purposes. About 95 to 98 per cent of these products are iron or steel, the tin and lead coating constituting the remaining 2 to 5 per cent. Soft steel is used chiefly now, because the quality required can be made cheaper than in iron, is more homogeneous and solid, and less liable to blister in the tinning processes. The association above named claims that the British plates imported to this country are “of poor quality, meanly coated, and, if low priced, are wasteful in the end.” That if home manufacture of such plates were encouraged by as heavy a tariff as is put upon other forms of finished iron—say 50 per cent, instead of only 15 to 30 per cent, as at present—American competition would act in this case as it has done in other classes of “protected industry,” to improve the qualities and ultimately to reduce the actual cost of the goods. But it is not only in these respects that it would benefit the country, says this association, but in bringing out the buried resources of our own mines and increasing the home market for American goods and American labor. The extra cost of American labor is, after all, accounted for mainly by the better manner of living of American laborers; their earnings are distributed among the American consumers of their wares, instead of being sent abroad to pay foreign laborers, while the native products utilized are so much clear gain. The tin, a small percentage of the sheets as above shown, would be imported to this country directly from Australia or the Dutch East Indies and “Straits Settlements,” but aside from this the materials used would be American products. In 1882 there were 480,596,480 pounds of British tin and terne plates sold in the United States, valued at $18,000,000 at Liverpool, and costing about $2,000,000 more for transportation. For this tin the American consumers paid about $30,000,000. To produce this in the United States would cost about as follows:

Tin (to be Imported), lbs	25,000,000
Tallow, home product, lbs	10,000,000
Sulphuric acid, lbs	30,000,000
Lead, lbs	5,000,000
Iron ore, tons	850,000
Limestone, tons	300,000
Coal, tons	1,500,000
Pig iron, tons	300,000
Charcoal, bu	5,000,000
Labor	$12,000,000
Interest on $30,000,000, capital invested in machinery	1,800,000
Cost of repairs	1,000,000
Oils and lubricants	100,000
Insurance and taxes	1,000,000

The whole of this amount, excepting the cost of the 25,000,000 pounds of tin ore, or “block tin,” would be produced and the money involved kept at home. Such is the substance of the arguments used by the American Tinned Plate Association to induce Congress to increase the tariff on “tin and terne plates.”

DEATH RATE OF CITIES.

New Orleans, La.

Will you state the death rate in the principal cities of America and Europe?

E. C.

Answer.—The following represents the number of deaths per annum in the United States out of 1,000 inhabitants, according to the census of 1879: New York, 25.82; Boston, 19.80; Philadelphia, 17.20; Chicago, 17.20; St. Louis, 18.19; New Orleans, 21.60. The deaths per 1,000 in the following European cities were as follows: London, 22.83; Berlin, 27.81; Paris, 22.04.

A STANZA FROM MRS. BROWNING.

Pontoosuc, Ill.

The lines quoted in the inquiry of “A Reader” in The Weekly Inter Ocean of Aug. 30 are from the pen of that grand Christian poetess, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and may be found in the fifth verse of the beautiful poem, “A Woman’s Shortcomings.” One of the lines is a little different from what your questioner has it. I will give you the whole verse:

“Unless you can muse in a crowd all day,

On the absent face that fixed you;

Unless you can love as the angels may,

With the breadth of heaven betwixt you;

Unless you can dream that his faith is fast,

Through behooving and unbehooving;

Unless you can die when the dream is past—

Oh, never call it loving!”

Your correspondent has the fourth line, “With the breath of heaven between you.”

Millard E. Little.

CORN IN DAKOTA.

Pierre, D. T.

I notice that in The Weekly Inter Ocean of Aug. 23, in answer to W. K., Chicago, you say that corn is generally conceded to be a hazardous crop in Southern Dakota. That theory is like the one of olden time, that Dakota is a vast wilderness where only the sagebrush and wild buffalo abound. Both theories have been exploded by actual demonstration, and it is no longer an experiment. Corn ripens in South Dakota in from 90 to 100 days from date of planting, which is 10 to 15 days shorter time than it takes in Northern Illinois or Iowa. It is the soil, the long days and short nights that do it; and there are numerous farmers here who can testify to the fact.

W. B. Steere, M. D.

A GULLED ENGLISHMAN.

Capron, Ill.

In reply to the inquiry of one of your correspondents, referred to me, as to whether there is “any truth in the statement made in a book published by some returned English tourists, to the effect that an itinerant lecturer advertised to give an entertainment at Capron, Ill., and at the close of the lecture shoot himself dead; that the home was crowded at $1 a head; and that, true to the programme, at the conclusion of his speech, this peripatetic orator actually committed suicide,” I would say that there was such a story written by a barber here, which was published in the county paper. It was false. The lecture never was given; at least the funeral never came off.

Alexander Vance, P. M.

SAINT SIMON, THE SOCIALIST.

Danville, Ill.

Who was Saint Simon, and what were his principles?

John Short.

Answer.—Claude Henri, Saint Simon, was a French nobleman, who was noted as a social philosopher and the founder of the sect named for him Saint Simonians. He entered the American army in 1778, at 18 years of age, and served therein with distinction and honor. While returning to his native land he was captured by British seamen and carried to Jamaica, where he remained until 1783. When at length he reached France he won many disciples to his socialistic views, and before his death, in 1823, he wrote several works upon philosophy and social reform. His greatest work was the ‘Nouveau Christianisme’ (New Christianity), in which he embodies his final and complete design for the amelioration of the poor and the preservation of society. He advocates a social hierarchy, controlling and regulating the choice of vocations, the fixing of salaries, the division of heritages, whose chief aim it shall be “to make the labors of each conduce to the good of all;” and to aid his projects he advised the union of France and England.

DIXON AND ELGIN BRIDGE DISASTERS.

Blendon, Kan.

Please state the date and the occasion of the Dixon bridge disaster, with the number of killed and wounded.

Subscriber.

Answer.—This calamity occurred on Sunday afternoon, May 4, 1873, resulting in the death from drowning and injuries of over forty men, women, and children, and the serious injury of nearly forty others. Its immediate cause was the overcrowding of the bridge by spectators of an immersion service of the Baptist Church of that city. The real cause was the faulty construction of the bridge, which was an iron structure, known as a Truesdell truss. It was a wagon and root bridge of five spans, each about 120 feet long. Both shore spans fell into the water while the three middle ones, resting entirely upon stone piers, remained suspended by the wrought-iron members of the main cords from six to eight feet below their proper place, dropped down between the piers. The number of persons on the first span that went down was variously estimated to be from 150 to 200, representing a weight of not more than 30,000 pounds. A Truesdell bridge, erected over Fox River at Elgin, fell in December, 1868. This was rebuilt by Mr. Truesdell. On Monday, July 5, 1869, a crowd of about 300 persons gathered on the bridge to witness a tub race, when the east span, 68 feet in length, fell, precipitating about one hundred men, women, and children into the water. Fortunately the stream was but about four feet deep at this time, and no persons were drowned and but two or three deaths followed from injuries received.

CONGRESSMAN GEORGE W. JULIAN.

Neodesha, Kan.

Was the Hon. George W. Julian a Republican? Describe in brief his life.

E. K. Krone.

Answer.—George Washington Julian was born in Centerville, Ind., May 5, 1817. After receiving a common school education he was admitted to the bar in 1840. He was chosen a member of the Legislature in 1845. From 1849 to 1851 he represented his district in Congress. The Pittsburg convention nominated him on the Free Democratic ticket for Vice President with John P. Hale for President. In 1856 he was prominent among the organizers of the Republican party. In 1861 he was re-elected to Congress, where he continued to do excellent service for several terms.

GEOLOGICAL DIVISIONS OF TIME.

Please give the geological divisions of time, beginning with the present, and a brief explanation of each.

N. Jay Deems.

Answer.—The divisions of time established by geologists are based upon the formations of strata and the advents of different forms of animal life. The history of the earth is divided into five “eras,” seven “ages,” twenty-two “periods,” and the last two periods are subdivided into seven epochs. These divisions, proceeding from the fifth downward to the first, are as follows: 5. Psychozoic era, age of man, human period, and recent epoch. 4. Cenozoic era, age of mammals—embracing the quaternary period, which comprehends the terrace, Champlain, and glacial epochs, and the tertiary period, which comprehends the pliocene, miocene, and eocene epochs. 3. Mesozoic, or middle, era, the age of reptiles, the cretaceous, jurassic, and triassic periods. 2. Paleozoic era, the carboniferous age, or age of acrogens and amphibians; the Devonian age, or age of fishes; the silurian age, or age of invertebrates, or mollusks—the names of the fourteen periods into which these ages are divided are not in common use. 1. Archaean, or eozoic era; the archaean age, and the Huronian and Laurentian periods. For an explanation of the terms used in this division consult Webster’s or Worcester’s unabridged dictionaries, and study the clear illustration accompanying the word “Geology” in the former work.

SUBMARINE CABLES.

Evergreen, Iowa.

How many telegraph cables cross the Atlantic, and where? How many ocean cables are there in all?

Guy Smith.

Answer.—There were in 1879 seven telegraph cables between Europe and America—five from Ireland, one from France, and one from Portugal to Brazil. Since then a new cable has been laid between New York and Flores, in the Azores, from which one extension runs off to France, England, and Holland, and another to Fayal, San Miguel, and Lisbon, embracing in all 7,300 miles. The longest line before this latter was the French cable, 2,585 nautical miles. There are now some 225 ocean cables in all parts of the world, of the aggregate length of over 68,000 miles.

“I” AND “WE” IN JOURNALISM.

Dayton, Ohio.

1. What is the rule of The Inter Ocean as to the use of the pronouns “I” and “we” in the office and in editorial correspondence? 2. What is your rule respecting a contributor’s using “we” when referring to himself?

J. W. H.

Answer.—1. The use of the word “we,” under all circumstances, is deprecated. Senator Conkling once said: “Only three classes of people are allowed to say ‘we:’ Kings, editors, and men with a tape-worm.” In this office “The Inter Ocean” is used instead of “we.” 2. Correspondents use “I,” when necessary, but are instructed to be as impersonal as possible. “Your correspondent” is preferred.

PROVIDENCE SPRING—ANDERSONVILLE PRISON.

Gilman, Iowa.

Is it true that in the Andersonville prison pen, during the late civil war, at a time when the water in the creek had become very scarce and foul and the captive Unionists were dying from this cause, a spring suddenly burst out of the hillside? If this is a fact, state some of the particulars, giving the date of the occurrence.

H. W.

Answer.—It is a fact, and, whether it was a “special providence” or not, as most, if not all, of those wretched prisoners believed, it served all the purposes of one, as much as the miracle in the desert of Sinai, when Moses smote the rock, and the waters gushed forth which saved the thirst-stricken hosts of Israel. Of the origin of this spring John McElroy, who spent fourteen months in Southern prison pens, gives substantially the following account: “Toward the end of August, 1864, the water in the creek was indescribably bad. Before the stream entered the stockade it was rendered too filthy for any use by the contaminations from the camp of the guards, situated about half a mile above. Immediately upon entering the stockade its pollution became terrible. The oozy seep at the bottom of the hillsides drained directly into it all the filth from a population of 33,000. Imagine the condition of an open sewer through the heart of a city of that many people, and receiving all the offensive products of so dense a population into a shallow, sluggish stream a yard wide and five inches deep, heated by the burning rays of the sun at the thirty-second parallel of latitude.’ The prisoners dug wells in the swampy earth with their pocket-knives to a depth of 20 to 30 feet, pulling up the earth in pantaloon-legs. But a drought came on and these wells, which at the best were not free from pollution, began to fail. To approach too close, even by a hair’s breadth, to the “dead-line” on the west side of the stockade, where the creek entered, in the effort to get water as free from filth as possible, was to sign one’s death warrant, which the whizzing bullet of the heartless guard executed instantly. “More wicked and unjustifiable murders were never committed than those almost daily assassinations at the creek,” says the historian. Sickness had multiplied in this horrible prison-pen until the wretched victims of such barbarism sat face to face with despair constantly. At this awful extremity what was the astonishment and gratitude of the camp one morning, when it was discovered that “during the night a large, bold spring had burst out on the north side, about midway between the swamp and the summit of the hill, and pouring out was a grateful flood of pure, sweet water, in an apparently exhaustless quantity.” This was the morning of Aug. 13, 1864. The overjoyed Union prisoners christened it “Providence spring,” the fitting name by which it is still known.

CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Jetmore, Kan.

State the total number of cattle in the United States, and what percentage of them are milch cows.

C. E. Boughton.

Answer.—The statistician in the Department of Agriculture estimates the total number of cattle in all the States and Territories in January, 1882, as 35,891,870, of which number 12,611,632, or a little more than 35 per cent, were milch cows. This estimate, so far as the number of cattle in the Territories, Colorado, and Texas are concerned, is largely conjectural.

JULES SANDEAU AND “GEORGE SAND.”

Mendota, Ill.

Who was Jules Sandeau, who is said to have given Madame Dudevant the now famous nom de plume of “George Sand?” Why did she take that name?

Alice.

Answer.—Leonard Sylvain Jules Sandeau, a French novelist and dramatic writer of some distinction, was born at Anbusson, France, Feb. 19, 1811. He studied law in Paris, but subsequently turned his attention to literature. In 1831 he became acquainted with Madame Dudevant, who lived with him in three small rooms in the Quai Saint Michel at a yearly rental of 300 francs. She it was who induced him to enter upon a literary career. In 1832 they produced together “Rose et Blanche,” a novel in five volumes, signed “Jules Sand.” It was received by the public with encouraging favor. Before she returned to Nahant she conferred with Sandeau respecting a new romance, each of them to write half of it. Fearing that he would neglect the work when she was not at hand to spur him to his task, she wrote the whole of “Indiana,” published the same year, in which her splendid genius rose far above anything in “Rose et Blanche.” Returning to Paris, she found that Sandeau had not written a line. Handing him her manuscript, she exclaimed: “Read that.” He did so, and declared it to be such a masterpiece that he could not review it. She wished to retain the name of “Jules Sands,” but as he had taken no part in the work, he positively declined to allow it. Appealing to their mutual friend, De Larouche, he advised her to take for a Christian name the name of the patron saint of the day, St. George, retaining the name “Sands,” a piece of advice which she instantly adopted. M. Sandeau afterward produced numerous novels and dramas, conspicuous among which are “Mdlle. de la Sergliere,” in two volumes, 1848, dramatized in 1851—generally esteemed his best novel; “La Maison de Penarvan,” 1858, dramatized in 1858; “Le Gendre de M. Poirier,” written in connection with Emil Angier, 1854—his best comedy. In 1853 he became keeper of the Mazurin Library, and in 1858 was elected a member of the French Academy, one of the highest distinctions to which a Frenchman can aspire. He died April 24, 1883.

MAXIMILIAN AND CARLOTTA.

Corning, Iowa.

Please give a short biography of the Empress Carlotta and the late Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.

Lillian Eldridge.

Answer.—Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, Archduke of Austria, younger brother of Francis Joseph I., the present Emperor of Austria-Hungary, and now generally referred to as the Emperor Maximilian I. of Mexico, was born in 1832. He was liberally educated, with a mind enriched by extensive reading, wide travel, and intercourse with many of the leading spirits of Europe. In 1857, on July 27, he married the sister of the present King of the Belgians, Charlotte Marie Amelie, born June 7, 1840. This amiable, beautiful, and highly intellectual lady was reared by her father, Leopold I., of Belgium, the most progressive of European sovereigns, with the greatest care, until she adorned every court she moved in. In 1861, taking advantage of the troubled condition of Mexico and the civil war in the United States, France, Spain, and Great Britain commenced hostilities against Mexico, ostensibly to enforce certain pecuniary claims. But in 1862, when the real purpose of the French manifested itself, the British and Spanish forces withdrew, and the French declared war, proclaiming the intention to liberate the Mexican people from the tyranny of their President, Benito Juarez. They overran the eastern and central part of Mexico, captured the capital—receiving more or less support from the clerical party among the natives—and finally set up a provisional government, headed nominally by General Almonte, but really under dictation of the invaders. An “Assembly of Notables,” so called, convened at Mexico, July 10, 1863, decided by a vote of 281 to 19 in favor of a “limited hereditary monarchy,” with a Catholic prince for sovereign, under the title of Emperor. At the instigation of Napoleon, who had already begun to realize the folly of his undertaking to subdue the whole of Mexico and hold it in subjection to his own will, seeing that the Republicans of Mexico were still organized and were continually harrassing the usurpers, the scepter of this new government was proffered to Maximilian. Not until all but the four northern provinces were in possession of the French forces and their Mexican recruits did he accept this uneasy crown. On May 29, 1864, the Emperor and Empress landed at Vera Cruz and on June 12 they made their public entry into the capital amid a brilliant military and civic display, accompanied by many signs of popular welcome. Before winter the Imperialists had gained possession of all the chief places in every State in the so-called empire. However, the fugitive President of the desperate republic still maintained a species of guerilla warfare in various places, and the sympathies of the people of the United States were with them. No sooner was the great civil war in this country ended than this sympathy began to make itself felt very sensibly. On Nov. 6, 1865, Secretary Seward directed the American Minister at Paris to represent to Napoleon III. that the presence of the French army in Mexico was a “cause of grave reflection to the government of the United States,” and that the latter could on no account allow the establishment of an imperial government, based on foreign aid, in that country, or recognize there any other than republican institutions. This increased the unpopularity of the war in France. Napoleon took warning, and in the summer of 1866 withdrew his forces. Deserted by his European allies, Maximilian’s empire hastened to a most melancholy end, so far as himself and the Empress were concerned. Charlotte went to Europe to enlist aid, but in vain. Her husband’s perilous position, added to the bitter disappointment and mortification of her failure, at last dethroned her reason. Maximilian refused to leave with the last French detachment, though urged to do so. He felt bound in honor to remain and share the fate of his Mexican supporters. At the head of 10,000 men he made a brave defense of Queretaro against the republicans under General Escobedo. On the night of May 14, 1867, the stronghold of his position was betrayed into the hands of his foes by the Emperor’s most trusted friend, General Lopez. Even then he refused the opportunity proffered him by his immediate captor to escape in civilian’s dress, lest it might compromise this generous foe. Along with Generals Miramon and Mejia, he was tried by court-martial, and on the 19th of July the three were shot. “Poor Carlotta,” as she is sorrowfully called, has never fully recovered her reason, although cared for with the greatest tenderness by her royal brother.

BOSS COINS OF AMERICA.

Galesburg, Ill.

Our Curiosity Shop has given a list of American silver coins that command a high premium; now please give a list of high-price copper coins of the United States, and colonial pieces. At least name all the “boss” coins, silver and copper.

Numismatist.

Answer.—As shown in the table of United States silver coins now obtainable only at a high premium, which has already been given in Our Curiosity Shop, the “boss dollar,” the rarest of all, is that of 1804, price $400 to $500, according to condition; the “boss half-dollar” is that of 1796, with sixteen stars, price $20 to $27.50—although that of 1796, with only fifteen stars, and that of 1797, each command nearly the same premium; $20 to $25. The “boss quarter-dollars” are those of 1823 and 1827, each quoted at $15 to $25. The “boss dime” is that of 1804, quoted at $4 to $6. The “boss half-dime” is that of 1802, worth $25 to $40. The “boss cent,” the rarest of all the cents, is that of 1799, quoted at $4 to $6; a higher rate of premium even than that of the “boss dollar.” The “boss half-cent” is that of 1796, worth $5 to $8, or from one thousand to sixteen hundred per cent more than its face.

The following are the United States cents that are worth 50 cents apiece and upward:

Year. Description.	Good.	Fine.
1793—Cent, wreath, stars, and bars on edge	$2.00	$3.50
1793—Cent, with chain ameri	2.75	5.00
1793—Cent, chain, America on the reverse	1.75	3.75
1793—Cent, clover leaf under bust	1.50	2.50
1793—Cent, liberty cap, rare	3.00	6.00
1793—Cent, dot after date, and legend “Liberty”	3.00	5.00
1795—Cent, thick planchet, edge lettered	75	1.00
1799—Cent, the rarest of the cents	4.00	6.00
1804—Cent, very rare	3.00	5.00
1839—Cent, over date of 1836		75
1855—Pattern cent, flying eagle, copper	60	70
1856—Nickel cent, flying eagle	1.50	2.00
1858—Nickel cent		50
1873—Two-cent piece	50	75

Next we give United States half-cents, valued at 50 cents and upward:

Year. Description.	Good.	Fine.
1793—Half-cent, rare	$1.75	$2.50
1793—Half-cent of smaller planchet	1.50	3.00
1794—Half-cent of several varieties	40	50
1795—Half-cent, lettered edge	75	1.00
1795—Half-cent of thin planchet	40	60
1796—Half-cent, the rarest of all	5.00	8.00
1797—Half-cent, several varieties	50	75
1802—Half-cent	50	75
1811—Half-cent	60	75
1831—Half-cent	2.50	3.50
1836—Half-cent	2.50	3.50
1840 to 1848 inclusive—Half-cent	2.50	3.50
1849—Half-cent, small date	2.50	3.50
1849—Half-cent, large date	05	10
1852—Half-cent	2.50	3.50

The coins minted by any of the American colonies and now at a high premium are as follows:

Year. Description.	Good.	Fine.
1786—Cent, Vermontensium Respublica	$0.40	$0.68
1786—Cent, Vermonts Respublica	30	50
1788—Cent, Nova Cesarea, horse head to left	75	1.25
1788—Mass. half-cent,	40	65
1787—New York “Excelsior” cent	2.00	3.00
1783—Chalmer’s Annapolis shilling and sixpence	2.50	3.00
1652—Oak Tree shilling and sixpence	3.00	4.00
1852—Pine Tree shilling and sixpence	3.00	4.00
1722—Rosa American half-cent	60	75

“A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME.”

Chicago, Ill.

A friend says that the saying “A little bird told me so,” is in the Bible, but she don’t know where. Is she right? If so, please explain it.

One of Your Girls.

Answer.—This mild expression for “I won’t betray my informer,” is not a literal quotation, but is undoubtedly borrowed from Ecclesiastes, chapter x, verse 29: “Curse not the King, no, not in thy thoughts: and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”

METEORIC STONES.

Wyoming, Wis.

When and where did the largest meteoric stone, of which there is any record, fall? Please give a description of the meteoric stone that fell in Iowa a few years ago.

William Yale.

Answer.—An immense aerolite, or meteoric stone, fell near Ægospatami, in Asia Minor, in 467 B. C., which was described by Pliny as being as large as a wagon. There is a remarkable one in the Smithsonian Institution, weighing 1,400 pounds, which fell in Mexico about A. D. 1500. The largest meteoric masses on record were heard of first by Captain Ross, the Arctic explorer, through some Esquimaux. These lay on the west coast of Greenland, where they were subsequently found by the Swedish Exploring Expedition of 1870. One of them, now in the Royal Museum of Stockholm, weighs over 50,000 pounds, and is the largest specimen known. Two remarkable meteorites have fallen in Iowa within a few years past. On Feb. 12, 1875, a very brilliant meteor, in the form of an elongated horseshoe, was seen throughout a region of at least 400 miles in length and 250 breadth, lying in Missouri and Iowa. It is described as “without a tail but having a sort of flowing jacket of flame. Detonations were heard, so violent as to shake the earth and to jar the windows like the shock of an earthquake,” as it fell, at about 10:30 o’clock p. m., a few miles east of Marengo, Iowa. The ground for a space of some seven miles in length by two to four miles in breadth was strewn with fragments of this meteor, varying in weight from a few ounces to seventy-four pounds; the aggregate of the parts discovered being about five hundred pounds.

On May 10, 1879, at about 5 o’clock p. m., a large and extraordinarily luminous meteor exploded with a terrific noise, followed at slight intervals with less violent detonations, and struck the earth in the edge of a ravine, near Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa, penetrating to a depth of fourteen feet. Within two miles other fragments were found, one of which weighed 170 pounds and another 32 pounds. The principal mass weighed 431 pounds. All the discovered parts aggregate about 640 pounds. The one of 170 pounds is now in the cabinet of the State University of Minnesota. The composition of this aerolite is peculiar in many respects; but, as in nearly all aerolites, there is a considerable proportion of iron and nickel.

A SKELETON IN EVERY CLOSET.

Madison, Wis.

What gave rise to the expression, “There is a skeleton in the closet,” and just what does it mean?

Alice.

Answer.—There is an old story that a soldier once wrote to his mother, who complained of her unhappiness, asking her to get some sewing done by some one who had no care or trouble. Coming in her search to one who, she thought, must be content and happy, this lady took her to a closet containing a human skeleton. “Madam,” said she, “I try to keep my sorrows to myself, but know that every night I am compelled by my husband to kiss this skeleton of him who was once his rival. Think you, then, I can be happy?” The inference is certainly too clear to need interpretation.

FINANCES OF CONFEDERATE STATES.

Ames, Iowa.

What was the amount of the Confederate debt at the close of the war? Was their currency a legal tender for all debts? How much did they issue? How much, if any, remained in the Confederate treasury at the close of the war?

Casey and Underhill.

Answer.—1. According to the “Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,” by Jefferson Davis, the foreign debt of the Confederate States at the close of the war was £2,200,000, or about $11,000,000. Besides this, the debt at home, on the books of the Register of the Treasury on Oct. 1 1864, amounted to $1,147,970,208. Davis estimates that balances in the hands of absent officers would have reduced the total public debt to $1,126,381,095, of which $541,340,090 consisted of funded debt and the balance unfunded debt, or treasury notes. What further debt was created between Oct. 1, 1864, and the downfall of the Confederacy in April, 1865, it is not easy to ascertain. Judging from the expenditure of the six months next preceding Oct. 1, 1864, the debt must have been increased at least $450,000,000. Davis says: “The appropriations called for by the different departments for the six months ending June 30, 1865, amounted to $438,416,504,” which, taken together with the amount of unexpended appropriations and the small proportion raised by taxation, confirms our estimate, so that the total home and foreign debt of the Confederacy at the close of the war, omitting any claims for advances made by individual States, must have been about $1,587,000,000. 2. The treasury notes of the Confederacy were made receivable for all public debts or taxes except export duty on cotton. The terms of at least one issue, as given by Mr. Davis, “receivable for all debts or taxes except the export duty on cotton,” would constitute them a legal tender. 3. In December, 1863, this currency in circulation in those States amounted to “more than $600,000,000.” A considerable part of this was funded in Confederate bonds, but new issues or reissues swelled the amount again to about the old figures before the war closed. 4. Just how much specie remained in the hands of the Secretary of the Confederate Treasury when Johnston surrendered is not known, but it must have been a trifling sum; for when Jefferson Davis committed the treasury chest to General Joe Johnston’s safe-keeping, according to that officer’s statement on pages 408 and 409 of his “Narrative of the Rebellion,” it contained but $39,000 in silver, a considerable part of which he took and divided among his troops. The fleeing members of the Cabinet, no doubt, got away with the most of the gold and foreign bills.

SAN FRANCISCO TO AUSTRALIA.

Osceola, Neb.

Will you please state the distance and rates of fare between San Francisco and Sydney? If not too much trouble give the same for all the principal ports in the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, and Australia.

J. M. Logan.

Answer.—The following table gives the distances and rates of fare for all ports in Sandwich Islands, Australia, and New Zealand touched at by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company’s steamers:

Miles.	San Francisco to	Cabin.	Steerage.
2,100	Honolulu	$75.00	$30.00
6,050	Auckland	200.00	100.00
6,625	Wellington	230.00	120.00
6,795	Lyttleton	235.00	122.50
7,000	Port Chalmers	240.00	125.00
7,200	Sydney	200.00	100.00
7,740	Melbourne	210.00	105.00
7,650	Brisbane	220.00	110.00
7,500	Rockhampton	235.00	117.50
8,245	Adelaide	223.75	117.50
7,600	Hobart Town	232.00	118.00

THE DEMOCRATIC ROOSTER.

Chicago, Ill.

Give the origin of the rooster as a Democratic emblem.

A Reader.

Answer.—We are indebted to Mr. W. F. Slater, of Hyde Park, for the following reply to this inquiry: During the Jackson and Van Buren administrations the party used the hickory pole and broom as a Democratic emblem of victory. In the memorable campaign of 1840 the Indianapolis Sentinel (Democratic) was published, with Mr. Nat Bolton as editor, and George Pattison as assistant. In the town of Greenfield resided Mr. Chapman, life-long Democrat, and at that time the postmaster, but no connection with the Chapman that subsequently published the Sentinel. Mr. Chapman wrote a desponding letter to Pattison, and Pattison, in his answer, endeavored to encourage his fellow-townsman, and wound up his letter with, “Crow, Chapman, crow!” The letter fell into Whig hands and was published in the campaign paper of the Whig party, The Spirit of 1876. In 1842 and 1844, when the Whig party met with defeat, the rooster came into universal use as the Democratic emblem of victory.

TO CHINA AND JAPAN.

Marshalltown, Iowa.

Please supplement your answer of last week giving distances and rates of fare from San Francisco to the Sandwich Islands, Australia, and New Zealand, by giving the distances and rates of fare to Japan, China, and East India ports.

Iowan.

Answer.—The following table shows the distance, fares in American gold, etc., per Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company’s vessels, from San Francisco to points named:

Miles.	San Francisco to—	Cabin.	Steer’ge	Chinese
4,800	Yokohama, Japan	$250.00	$85.00	$51.00
5,100	Hiogo, Japan	268.00	75.00	58.00
5,500	Nagasaki, Japan	285.00	111.00	63.50
6,000	Shanghae, China	305.00	125.00	71.00
6,400	Hongkong, China	300.00	100.00	51.00
7,850	Singapore, India	380.00
8,250	Penang, India	400.00
9,900	Calcutta, India	450.00

Children under 12 years, one-half rates; under 5 years, one-quarter rates; under 2 years, free. Servants accompanying their employers, two-thirds of cabin rate, without regard to age or sex. Round trip tickets, good for twelve months, 12½ per cent from regular rates.

CORN CROPS OF ILLINOIS AND IOWA.

Ayr, Neb.

To settle a dispute, please tell which State raises the most corn—Illinois or Iowa.

J. A. Sullivan.

Answer.—Illinois leads all the States in the amount of corn raised. In 1882 the Illinois crop was 187,336,900 bushels, and the Iowa crop was 178,487,600 bushels. According to the same authority, the Statistician of the Agricultural Department, the average annual corn crop of Illinois for the five years ending with 1879 was 260,230,740 bushels, and that of Iowa was 163,789,120 bushels. The corn crop of Illinois in 1880, as given in the census, was 325,792,481, and that of Iowa was 275,024,247 bushels.

BEE-SWARMING.

H. J. Dunlap, Esq., of Champaign, Ill., who has made bee-culture a study, after a few words of comment on the brief answer given to “Topsy’s” question on the swarming of bees, published in Our Curiosity Shop three or four weeks ago, gives us his own views on this subject as follows:

New brood is hatched early in the season—in case of plentiful stores before the earliest blossoms—while the first swarm may not leave the hive until July, or even later; the condition of the honey flowers in bloom having much to do in determining the time. [In the Southern States it often leaves in April or May, and in this latitude usually in May or June.—Ed]. The first swarm is composed of old and young bees indiscriminately, and of drones. In from six to ten days a young queen is hatched. Sometimes several hatch at the same time, but all are destroyed except one, the queens engaging in deadly combat in which one or the other is the victor. The bees destroy the remaining queen cells as soon as a queen is hatched. In a day or two the virgin queen flies out to meet the male, or drone, and after copulation returns to her hive, where she usually remains until the next season, when she leads out a swarm. In some seasons, when honey is plenty, she may go out with a swarm, and even third swarms are thrown off, but such seasons are almost certain to be poor ones for honey, the swarms becoming so depleted in number that they are unable to avail themselves of the later blossoms, even if these are well-stored with honey. The second swarm thrown off will necessarily be composed mostly of young bees, but the inference that swarming continues so long as there are young queens to lead them out is erroneous.

DEATHS FROM CONSUMPTION.

Please tell what States furnished the largest percentage of consumptives, according to population, and settle a dispute.

B. F. Feather.

Answer.—The following table shows the total population of States reporting the greatest number of deaths from consumption in the last census year, and the number of deaths per 10,000 inhabitants:

		Died of	No. per
States.	Population.	consumption.	10,000.
New York	5,082,871	12,858	25
Pennsylvania	4,282,891	8,073	19
Massachusetts	1,783,085	5,207	30
Ohio	3,198,062	5,912	18
Illinois	3,077,871	5,146	16
Tennessee	1,542,259	3,767	24

This shows that whereas the deaths from consumption in the census year were 16 for every 10,000 inhabitants in Illinois, they were 25 per 10,000 in New York State, and 30 per 10,000 in Massachusetts, the highest ratio in the country. Maine stood next with 29 per 10,000, while Rhode Island lost 25, New Hampshire 25, New Jersey 23, Connecticut 21, California 21, Virginia 20, North Carolina 15, and Michigan the same as Illinois, 16, while Florida lost not quite 10, and Minnesota not quite 11 per 10,000.

RAILROAD RELINQUISHMENT TO SETTLERS.

Melrose, M. T.

Two men had a hearing about a claim within the limits of the railroad land grant, and the General Land Office decided that neither could hold it. One of the parties procured from the Northern Pacific Railroad a relinquishment, which was sent to the General Land Office, and a patent was issued to this person. Now, had the Northern Pacific Railroad the right to relinquish its title in this way? Please give the law.

David Evans.

Answer.—By an act of Congress approved June 22, 1874, according to the statement of “Copps’ American Settler’s Guide,” it is provided that in the adjustment of all railroad land grants, whether made directly to any State for railroad purposes, or to any corporation, if any of the lands granted be found in the possession of an actual settler, whose entry or filing has been allowed under the pre-emption or homestead laws subsequent to the time at which, by the decision of the Land Office, the right of said road was declared to have attached to such lands, the grantees, upon a proper relinquishment of the lands so entered or filed for, shall be entitled to select an equal quantity of other lands in lieu thereof from any of the public lands not mineral, and within the limits of the grant, not otherwise appropriated at the date of selection. And any such entries or filings thus relieved from conflict may be perfected into complete titles as if such lands had not been granted. Lands so relinquished are rated at only $1.25 per acre. An inducement is thus offered to railroad companies to relinquish in favor of the settlers, and receive other lands in lieu of those surrendered. Not only this, but when the superior right of the company is ascertained, and it is found that the claim of the settler is such that it would be admitted were the railroad claim extinguished, the General Land Office will, in all practicable cases, direct the attention of the officers of the company to the fact, and request an explicit answer whether or not the land will be relinquished. At the same time it is well for the party interested to seek for himself the relief indicated, by direct application to the railroad authorities, and thereby aid in securing a speedy adjustment.

DEATHS FROM ACCIDENT.

Chicago, Ill.

About how many persons die from injuries by railroad collisions and other accidents every year? Also, give the number of suicides.

Cripple.

Answer.—The total number of deaths due to accidents, violence, suicide, etc., as reported for the last decennial census, was 35,932, divided as follows:

Burns and scalds	4,786
Exposure and neglect	1,299
Homicide	1,336
Injuries by machinery	120
Railroad accidents	2,349
Suffocation	2,339
Sunstroke	557
Drowned	4,320
Gunshot	2,289
Infanticide	40
Suicide by shooting	472
Suicide by drowning	155
Suicide by poison	340
Suicide, other causes	1,550
Deaths by other injuries	13,980

From the above, it appears that the total number of deaths from suicide, 2,517, exceeded the total from railroad accidents, and that the latter amounted to 65 in every 1,000 deaths from accidents and violence.

SUBMARINE TORPEDOES.

Harper, Kan.

How are torpedoes, for blowing up vessels, constructed and used?

Charles G. Boone.

Answer.—There are several kinds of naval torpedoes. They may be classed, as fixed—submarine mines—and locomotive. Of the first sort there are two classes, viz., the self-acting and those which must be exploded by the electric battery operated from the shore or some other means of direct ignition.

An example of the self-acting sort may be described as follows: Take a hollow iron cone; fill this in part with gunpowder, say 150 to 250 pounds, but not enough to overcome the buoyancy of the cone. In the top of this charge of gunpowder bury an iron case containing lime, and in it a thin glass tube filled with sulphuric acid. Connect this tube or vial with an iron rod running through the top of the torpedo cone, up to within a short distance of the surface of the water. From this upright rod let other rods, called feelers, extend horizontally in every direction; let the whole be anchored in the channel to be defended, so that these feelers will be so near to the surface that passing vessels will be likely to come in contact with one or more of them; in which case the shock will break the frail glass tube containing the sulphuric acid, which latter, acting chemically on the lime, will instantly generate sufficient heat to explode the charge and destroy the vessel. For a sample of the other class of fixed torpedoes, imagine a submarine magazine filled with gunpowder, or—better still for this purpose, gun-cotton, because water does not injure it—planted in a channel, connected with the shore by an insulated copper wire attached to a battery. Let a small piece of wire be soldered to the metal case of the torpedo, and unite this, in the priming chamber, with the shore wire by a fine piece of platinum. The moment the operator on shore connects the wire with the battery the current, meeting the resistance of this contracted bridge of platinum, heats it to incandescence and explodes the charge. By planting several parallel lines of such torpedoes across a channel, at no great distance apart, in such a way that the mines in one row stand opposite the open spaces in another, it is rendered extremely hazardous for a hostile vessel to attempt to pass. Of the locomotive submarine explosives, one of the most formidable is the Whitehead fish torpedo, the construction of which is more or less a secret, sold by the inventor to the English, Austrian, and Russian navies. The shape of the case is, as the name implies, that of a fish, and it is propelled by a screw driven by compressed air. From a peculiar carriage on shore, or more frequently on board a vessel, it is discharged in a direct line for the enemy’s ship, and is exploded by impact. It is a terribly destructive engine when it happens to strike, but its aim is uncertain. The American torpedo, of similar description in many respects, Harvey’s, is believed to be a more reliable and effective engine.

Finally there is the torpedo used to such good advantage in several instances during our late war, particularly in the case of the sinking of the rebel ram Albemarle. It is rigged on the end of a spar carried in the bow of a launch, and sometimes on outriggers on either side, and is exploded by contact with the vessel to be destroyed, at some point several feet below the water-line.

ANCIENT VIRGINIA.

La Junta, Col.

What were the original boundaries of Virginia, and how did it get its name?

J. P. Granger.

Answer.—There is no good ground for dispute over the question as to how Virginia got its name. This name was given by Queen Elizabeth at the request of Sir Walter Raleigh to the region discovered in 1584 by persons sent out by him. It was applied to what is now North Carolina, and was extended, with the progress of exploration, over the country northward as far as the present city of Bangor, Me., or to the 45th degree of north latitude, and southward to the 34th parallel. One colony after another was carved out of the original Virginia until it was reduced to the boundaries it had at the time of the Revolutionary war. It claimed jurisdiction over all the Northwest territory by virtue of its first charter, made to the London company, and by conquest from Great Britain during the war; but it ceded all its rights to the Federal Government in 1787, reserving only 3,709,848 acres to reward Virginia troops.

AMERICAN TREATIES WITH CHINA.

Chebanse, Ill.

How long before the passage of our infamous anti-Chinese immigration law was it that our government forced its way into China at the cannon’s mouth?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—The first American treaty with China was made at Wang-hia, a suburb of Macao, July 3, 1844, by the Hon. Caleb Cushing, Minister Plenipotentiary for the United States, and Commissioner Ki-ying, on the part of the Chinese. It was soon after the close of the Anglo-Chinese war known as the “Opium war,” because it grew out of the persistent smuggling of opium into China by the East India Company, and resulted in the agreement of the Chinese Government to admit opium as an article of legitimate commerce. It also resulted in the opening of five ports to English trade. Thus the forcing of the Chinese “at the cannon’s mouth” was done by the English, against a sincere desire of the former both to keep out opium and to have nothing more to do with Europeans that they could possibly help. The negotiations between Mr. Cushing and Ki-ying were amicable and highly creditable to both nations from first to last. Strange to say, to the utter astonishment of the English, Mr. Cushing, with the arguments of reason only, gained many important concessions not contained in the British treaty, besides all that was conceded in that instrument. The next treaty between the United States and China was signed at Tientsin, China, June 15, 1858. It contained a number of important additional concessions, all obtained without any violence or serious warlike demonstration on the part of our own government, but coincident with the English and French treaties extorted from the Chinese by the bloody war that had been waged for the two preceding years. Had not the English and French waged that war it is quite certain that neither they nor the Americans would have gained any new concessions, and they might have had to yield some of those granted in the old treaties. But having been forced to make concessions to their hated foes, it must be said that the Chinese Government yielded to Americans equal rights and privileges in a manner which showed plainly that they had no desire to withhold anything from a friendly power which they had granted to their enemies. The first article of the treaty recites, among other things: “There shall be, as there always has been, peace and friendship between the United States and the Ta-Tsing (Chinese) Empire, and between their people respectively. They shall not insult or oppress each other,” etc. The next, known as the Burlingame treaty, was negotiated at Washington and ratified by the United States Senate July 16, 1868, when Mr. Anson Burlingame was here at the head of the first Chinese Embassy to this country. It was negotiated on the highest plane of American statesmanship, and breathes throughout the spirit of true republicanism, the spirit of the highest Christian civilization. It is sad to think that it was too high for the majority of our politicians to stand on, and has been lowered and narrowed to accommodate them in the present treaty, negotiated in 1880, at the dictation of Denis Kearney and the Sinophobists of California.

CATTLE IN UNITED STATES.

Ellsworth, Kan.

Will you please tell how many cattle there were in the United States, according to the last census; also, the number for four years past?

Wm. Ashmead.

Answer.—The census gives the number of working oxen in the United States in 1880 as 993,841; the milch cows as 12,443,120; other cattle as 22,488,550; total, 35,925,511. The Statistician of the Agricultural Department gives the numbers for the past four years as shown below:

Jan. 1, 1879—
Milch cows	11,826,400
Oxen and other cattle	21,408,100
Jan. 1, 1880—
Milch cows	12,027,000
Oxen and other cattle	21,231,000
Jan. 1, 1881—
Milch cows	12,368,653
Oxen and other cattle	20,937,702
Jan. 1, 1882—
Milch cows	12,611,632
Oxen and other cattle	23,280,238

THE GERMAN PATRIOT, BLUM.

Mazomanie, Wis.

Tell us something of Robert Blum, the German statesman, who was shot in Vienna in 1848.

Carl Fehlandt.

Answer.—He was born at Cologne in 1807. He was well educated, served for a time in the army, which he left in 1830 to connect himself with the theater at Cologne, of which he became in time a director. Much of his time was given to literature and politics. In the latter he espoused the cause of liberalism. This was particularly the case after he moved to Leipsic, where he was first a director of the theater, then a bookseller and publisher. Here he founded the Schiller Society of Leipsic, was connected with the German Catholic movement, and was finally elected Vice President of the Provisional Assembly at Frankfort in 1848. In the National Assembly he became leader of the Left, or Radicals. He joined the popular movement in 1848, took a prominent part in the insurrection that broke out at Vienna at the time of the struggle for Hungarian independence, headed by Kossuth, and, being arrested, he was summarily shot, Nov. 9, 1848.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN’S LAST RECORD.

Chebanse, Ill.

When, where, and by whom was the cairn discovered in which was the last record of Dr. John Franklin?

A Subscriber.

Answer.—The cairn containing the written record left by the Franklin exploring party was discovered at Point Victory on the coast of King William’s Island. This discovery was made in 1859 (fourteen years after Franklin’s death), by Lieutenant Hobson of the British yacht Fox, purchased and fitted out by Lady Franklin, and commanded by Captain Leopold McClintock. The principal facts stated in the record are that her Majesty’s ships Terror and Erebus spent the winter of 1845-6 at Beechey Island, off the southwest coast of North Devon, having ascended Wellington Channel to latitude 77 deg., and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. Lieutenant Gore and Charles F. De Voeux had left the ships with six men, on an exploring expedition, May 24, 1847, and on the 28th left this written statement of their journeyings. Franklin had sailed westward to longitude 98 deg., then up Wellington Channel—the course specially commended to him, but upon trying to reach the American coast he was prevented by the masses of ice sweeping southward through McClintock Channel. The record concludes with these words, in the handwriting of Captain Fitz James: “April 25, 1848—H. M. ships Terror and Erebus were deserted on 22d April, five leagues n. n. w. of this, having been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69 deg. 37 min. 42 sec. n., long. 98 deg. 41 min. w. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men.” Captain Crozier added the important statement: “We shall start on to-morrow, 26th April, 1848, for Back’s Fish River.” This record proved the identity of Sir John Franklin’s party with a party seen by the Esquimaux pressing southward along Fish River to reach the settlements of the Hudson Bay Company. Later many skeletons were found on the south and west coasts of King William’s Island. It is certain, according to the recent reports of Captain Hall and Lieutenant Schwatka, that all of the party perished from hunger and exposure.

STEPHEN GIRARD.

James White, Fairfield, Pa.—Stephen Girard was born near Bordeaux, France, May 24, 1750; took to a seafaring life, became master of a sailing vessel, then owner of several ships in the American coasting and West India trade, in which business he amassed a fortune, the greater part of which was left to found and endow Girard College for Orphans, near Philadelphia, and other charitable institutions. He was regarded, at the time of his death, as the wealthiest man in the United States, although, compared with the money kings of the present time, he had but a moderate fortune, probably not to exceed $9,000,000. No one knows what William H. Vanderbilt or Jay Gould is worth, but it is safe to say that it is not less in either case than $150,000,000, and some say more than $200,000,000.

ELEVATION OF WESTERN SIGNAL STATIONS.

Fairmount, Ill.

Please give in Our Curiosity Shop the elevation above sea level of Huron, D.T., St. Paul, Minn., Madison, Wis., and Chicago.

E. Halladay.

Answer.—The best we can do is to give the elevations of the barometers of the United States Signal Service above sea-level at the several points specified, as computed for that service. That these are not certainly exact is admitted by the Chief of the Signal Service, who says, on page 1,178 of his report for 1881: “When the elevations of these planes above mean sea-level have been determined by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, it is expected that we shall be able to greatly improve on the elevations at present adopted.” The Signal Service barometer at Huron, D. T., stands at 1,300 feet above mean sea-level—marked (?) or doubtful. The barometer at St. Paul is 810.9 feet, at Madison 949.2 feet, at Chicago 660.9 feet, above sea level. The elevation of these barometers above the ground varies between thirty and seventy-five feet. As to your other question you are mistaken; Huron still appears in the “Weather Reports” printed in The Inter Ocean.

VALUES OF FOREIGN COINS.

Houghton, Mich.

Can you not oblige us with a list of foreign coins and their values in this country?

William J. Wren.

Answer.—The following table gives a list of foreign coins and their values, as proclaimed by the United States Treasury Department for the guidance of Custom House officers:

Countries.	Standard monetary unit.	Value in U. S. cur.
Austria	Florin, silver	.40.6
Belgium	Franc, gold and silver	.19.3
	5,10, and 20 franc coins.
Bolivia	Boliviano, silver	.82.3
Brazil	Milris of 1,000 reis, gold	.54.5
Canada	Dollar, gold	1.00.0
Central America	Peso, silver	.83.6
Chili	Peso, gold	.91.2
	Condor, doubloon, and escudo.
Denmark	Crown, gold	.26.8
	10 and 20 crown pieces.
Ecqaudor	Peso, silver	.82.3
Egypt	Pound of 100 piasters, gold	4.97.4
	5, 10, 25, and 50 piastres.
France	Franc, gold and silver	.19.3
	5, 10, and 20 franc pieces.
Great Britain	Pound sterling, gold	4.86.6½
	Sovereign and half sovereign.
Greece	Drachma, gold and silver	.19.3
	5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 drachmas.
German Empire	Mark, gold	.23.8
	5, 10, and 20 marks.
India	Rupee of 16 annas, silver	.39.7
Italy	Lira, gold and silver	.19.3
	5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 lire.
Japan	Yen, gold and silver	.99.7
	1, 2, 3, 10, and 20 yen.
Liberia	Dollar, gold	1.00.0
Mexico	Dollar, or peso, silver	.89.4
	Dollar, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavo.
Netherlands	Florin, gold and silver	.40.2
Norway	Crown, gold	.26.8
	10 and 20 crowns.
Peru	Sol, silver	.83.6
Portugal	Milreis, 1,000 reis, gold	1.08.0
	2, 5, and 10 milreis.
Russia	Ruble of 100 copecks, silver	.66.9
	Ruble, ¼, and ½ rouble.
Sandwich Islands Dollar, gold		1.00.0
Spain	Peseta of 100 centimes gold and silver	.19.3
	5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesetas.
Sweden	Crown, gold	.26.8
Switzerland	Franc, gold and silver	.19.3
	5, 10, and 20 francs.
Tripoli	Mahbub. 20 piasters, silver	.74.3
Turkey	Piaster, gold	.04.4
	25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 piasters.
United States of Colombia	Peso, silver	.83.6

THE SOUTH AND PROTECTIVE TARIFF.

Jonesboro, Ark.

How is the South, and, particularly, how are Southern farmers, benefited by the tariff?

S. W. Morehead.

Answer.—Just as other American farmers are. First, by escaping direct taxation for the support of the General Government, a form of taxation that always bears on farmers and the other industrial classes heavily, as illustrated in direct taxation for State and county purposes. The Southern politicians who framed the Constitution of the Southern Confederacy, a majority of them, ignored the protectionist policy of Washington, Madison, Clay, Lowndes, Bell, and other Southern statesmen of different political parties, and, as Jefferson Davis puts it, in his “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy,” “protective duties for the benefit of special branches of industry were altogether prohibited.” A tariff for revenue only, export duties, and direct taxation were relied on to supply the exchequer of the Confederacy. What does Mr. Davis say of the result as regards the last of these sources? On page 495 of Volume I. he writes: “Within six months after the passage of the war tax of Aug. 19, 1861, the popular aversion to internal taxation by the General Government had so influenced the legislation of the several States that only in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas were the taxes actually collected from the people. The quotas of the remaining States had been raised by the issue of bonds and State Treasury notes. The public debt of the country was thus actually increased instead of being diminished by the taxation imposed by Congress.” Where did most of the money come from that was raised by the Confederacy? Off the agricultural products of the South. As to the foreign loan, Davis says: “Each bond, at the option of the holder, was convertible at its nominal amount into cotton at the rate of sixpence sterling for each pound of cotton—say 4,000 pounds of cotton for each bond of a hundred pounds sterling.” The farmer was paid for the cotton in Confederate currency or bonds, as a rule, and any other cotton exported from the country was compelled to pay an export duty to help pay the interest on the foreign bonds. But not only does the policy of American protection tend to keep the amount raised by direct taxation down to a minimum (as now, when, except the internal revenue tax on whisky and tobacco, nearly the entire revenue of the Federal Government is collected off of imports), but it levies the tariff mainly on such articles as can be produced in this country, so compelling consumers of Southern cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, etc., to pay better prices for these articles, or foreign competitors to reduce their profits when selling to American consumers; while it admits, coffee, tea, and other home necessities that we cannot produce, free of duty. It lays a duty on iron and other ores, and so encourages the Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama miner to delve for the wealth beneath his feet. It taxes cotton goods, and so holds out an extra inducement over all that nature has done to encourage the South to erect cotton factories. The same is true in a thousand other lines of manufacture. In general, it attracts capital into the South to engage in mining and manufacturing; it keeps money at home; it builds up home markets; it develops natural resources; it quickens the inventive genius of the nation, and it diversifies industries, and so provides occupations adapted to the various talents of different persons. This last is what the South needs more, in proportion, than any other section of the Union. Diversity of occupation, like diversity of crops, is essential to the realization of the best results. In many cases the most expert mechanics would make inferior farmers. The girl who “loves dearly to attend cotton-looms” (as a female operative in the weaving department of the Southern Exposition at Louisville lately exclaimed) would not stay on a farm. Diversity of industry affords opportunity for every worker to make the most of his abilities. It is the safety-valve of labor, which prevents any one occupation from being overgorged with laborers. It is the great equalizer of wages. The South is only beginning to realize the importance of home manufactures. Georgia is alive to this matter; so are some portions of Kentucky. Other Southern States are awakening to it. If it be true that in some parts of the North the manufacturers are strong enough to stand without protection, it is not yet true of the same industries in the South, and the latter should demand that the tariff be maintained until she has acquired like strength. She has the cotton, iron, sugar, cheaper labor, and on account of the climate it costs the laborers less to live there than in the North. Why should she not rival France, of similar climate, in manufactures? Capitalists are asking “why not;” and capital is pouring into the South faster than ever before. It would be suicidal to drive this capital back. The South will be stupid if she exerts herself to keep her children shut up to agricultural pursuits and continues to spend more than half the value of her surplus products in sending them to market and bringing them back in a manufactured condition (as she always has done) instead of manufacturing them at home.

I AM DYING, EGYPT, DYING.

Evanston, Ill.

Who was the author of the touching poem commencing, “I am dying, Egypt, dying?” It is said that he was an army officer.

J. H.

Answer.—It was William Haines Lytle, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1826. He belonged to a cluster of brilliant young writers whose early ambition was to build up a school of Western literature, but who were drawn into the whirl of more active life, which left little time for courting the muses. On the breaking out of the late war he went into the army, serving as a Colonel in Western Virginia in 1861. He was wounded at Perryville, Ky., in October, 1862, was promoted for gallant services, and, finally, was killed at the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1863. He was greatly beloved by his fellow officers for his noble social qualities as well as for his martial bearing; and nothing could be more unjust, according to the testimony of those who knew him well, than the story recently started by a flippant penny-a-liner, that he wrote the poem above referred to, properly entitled “The Death of Mark Antony,” on the walls of a guard-house in St. Louis, in which he was held under arrest over night for disorderly conduct on his way home from the theater, where he had seen Booth in Shakespeare’s great drama of “Antony and Cleopatra.” That the poem was suggested to him by witnessing Booth’s representation of this play is probably true: and it is asserted by some that he had written it, in part at least, some time before the eve of his death, but the following version of the peculiar circumstances under which this greatly admired lyric was completed and transmitted to the world corresponds with the traditions of the army, and is probably true. John M. Balthes, of Clifton, Ill., who was once a fellow-townsman of General Lytle, at Zanesville, Ohio, writing to a fellow-soldier of that gallant officer, says:

“I send you the following beautiful lines, written by him in the middle of the night, just before the next day’s battle, in which he lost his life. The General being strongly impressed, or having a premonition that he should lose his life in the battle that was so soon to open, sat absorbed and alone in his tent, when an officer coming in admonished him that he needed rest before the serious business planned for the next day. Thereupon General Lytle handed him these verses, remarking that they would be the last he should ever write.” This poem was published in The Sunday Inter Ocean of Oct. 7, almost precisely as given by Mr. Balthes, and as it appears in “Famous Single and Fugitive Poems,” by Rossiter Johnson.

SPECIAL PARTNERS—CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

A. D. Bird, Tecumseh, Neb.—1. In limited partnerships the special partner’s liability for the indebtedness of the firm is limited to their total interest in the firm, whereas the other partners are each liable for the whole indebtedness of the firm. In corporations “limited” stockholders are liable only to the total amount of their stock, or some specific amount over that. For a fuller answer see page 87 of Curiosity Shop for 1882, in book form. 2. The twelfth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which terminated the old rule that the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for President should be President, and the one receiving the next greatest number for President should be Vice President, and requiring electors to name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and, in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, was adopted in 1804.

SILK FROM OSAGE-ORANGE LEAVES.

Galesburg, Ill.

Will silk-worms fed with the leaves of the Osage orange thrive as well and produce as fine a quality of silk as if fed on the leaves of the white mulberry?

Farmer’s Wife.

Answer.—They seem to thrive well, and they produce fine-looking cocoons; but as to the value of these latter compared with those produced from mulberry leaves, it is not yet time to speak positively. The strength, fineness, and other elements of value have not been fully tested and pronounced upon by experts. Miss Nellie Lincoln Rossiter, of Philadelphia, who has written a little hand-book on the raising of silk-worms, says that there is no apparent difference between the silk crops from morette, a species of white mulberry, and Osage orange leaves. It would be well for persons interested in this question to correspond with the Woman’s National Silk Association of Philadelphia. An interesting experiment in raising silk-worms has been successfully carried on the past season by the Misses Sarah Dewey and Alice Coykendall, at Canton, Ill. They procured the eggs from Philadelphia, with instructions for the management of them, and an exchange says: “They now have 3,500 worms in all stages of development, from those just hatched to those which have their cocoons fully formed. They are kept in an upstairs room on perforated paper, over which fresh leaves of the Osage orange are spread each morning. The ladies are enthusiastic over their success, which certainly seems assured. They will be able to find a ready market for their cocoons at Philadelphia at remunerative prices.”

AMERICAN KNIGHTS—SONS OF LIBERTY.

Minneapolis, Minn.

Give some of the facts as to the origin and acts of the disloyal orders known during the war for the Union as “American Knights,” “Sons of Liberty,” etc.; and of the trial of Dodd for conspiring against the government.

Jas. Brewster.

Answer.—The treasonable organization known during the late war, at one time as the “Mutual Protection Society,” again as the “Circle of Honor,” or the “Circle,” or “Knights of the Mighty Host,” but more widely as “Knights of the Golden Circle,” first developed itself in the West in 1862, about the time of the first conscription, or draft of troops, which it was designed to obstruct and resist. An association under the last of these names had existed for some years at the South being one of the chief means used to foment the rebellion before the outbreak. Because of some exposures of the signs, rituals, etc., of the Knights of the Golden Circle, Sterling Price, the Confederate general, had instituted as its successor in Missouri a secret political order, known as the “Corps de Belgique,” in honor of his chief coadjutor, Charles L. Hunt then Belgian Consul at St. Louis. Its special object was to beat up recruits for Price and otherwise co-operate with him in his design of overrunning Missouri. This was afterward merged into another secret order, called the “Order of American Knights,” commonly known as the “O. A. K.,” organized in the autumn of 1863 by Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, and P. C. Wright, of New York. It is believed that it was founded by Vallandigham in consultation with Jefferson Davis and other arch-rebels at Richmond, during his banishment within the rebel lines. At least, members of the order in Indiana boasted that the ritual was prepared by Davis himself, and Mary Ann Pitman, at one time attached to General Forrest’s command as a rebel spy, declared that Davis was a member of the order. In Indiana, in May, 1864, owing to the names of some of the leaders and the signs and passwords of the order having got into the possession of the Federal authorities, its name was finally changed to the “Order of the Sons of Liberty,” or “Knights of the Order of the Sons of Liberty,” and a ritual was instituted. These soon became general. Local branches of the organization used other names outside their lodges, such as “Peace Organization” in Illinois, “Star Organization” in Kentucky, “American Organization” in Missouri, “McClellan Minute Men” in New York, “Democratic Invincible Club” in Chicago, “Democratic Reading-room” in Louisville, and so on.

This order had a Supreme Council for the United States at large, of which the chief officers were a Supreme Commander, a Secretary and a Treasurer. There was a Grand Council for each State, whose chief officers were a Grand Commander, a Deputy Grand Commander, a Grand Secretary, and a Grand Treasurer, and a certain number of Major Generals, one for each of its “military districts.” There was also a “Parent Temple” in each county and subordinate temples in townships. The constitution of the order declared that “the Supreme Commander shall be Commander-in-chief of all military forces belonging to the order in the various States, when called into actual service.” There were four Major Generals in Indiana, each commanding “a military district and its army.” In Illinois, where its organization was at one time very complete, the members in each Congressional district constituted a brigade, under a “Brigadier General.” Those of each county a “regiment,” commanded by a “Colonel,” and those of each township a “company.” In Indiana companies were subdivided into “squads.” The McClellan Minute Men of New York were similarly organized.

The first Supreme Commander was P. C. Wright, editor of the New York News, who was subsequently incarcerated in Fort Lafayette, New York harbor, when he was succeeded by Vallandigham. Robert Holloway, of Illinois, is said to have acted as Supreme Commander in the latter’s absence in Canada. Charles L. Hunt, Grand Commander for Missouri, Charles E. Dunn, Deputy Grand Commander, and Green B. Smith, Secretary, being placed under arrest, divulged facts confirmatory of the above. H. H. Dodd, the Grand Commander for Indiana, was arrested and tried at Indianapolis before a military commission “for conspiring against the government,” “violations of the laws of war,” and other charges. He was finally turned over to the civil authorities and liberated.

Vallandigham declared in a speech at Dayton, Ohio, in the summer of 1863, that the order numbered 500,000 men; others claimed 800,000, and some still more. Statements of its officers at different times, represented its numbers in Indiana as 75,000 to 125,000; in Illinois as 100,000 to 140,000; in Ohio as 80,000 to 108,000; in Michigan and New York as about 20,000 each, and so on. In March, 1864, it was represented that the total force capable of being mobilized for effective service was 340,000. Green B. Smith and other witnesses testified to having purchased and shipped arms to various points to arm the order. Another witness, once a member of the order in Indiana, testified that there were 6,000 muskets and 60,000 revolvers, besides private arms in possession of the order in that State.

The members were bound by the most rigorous oaths. Its “declaration of principles” declared that it was the imperative duty of its members to resist the functionaries of the Federal Government, “and, if need be, expel them by force of arms.” The witnesses, former members, testified that the duties of members were: 1. To aid soldiers to desert and harbor and protect them. 2. To discourage enlistments and resist the draft. 3. To circulate disloyal and treasonable publications. 4. To communicate and give assistance to the enemy. 5. To recruit for the Confederate army. 6. To furnish the rebels with arms and ammunition. 7. To co-operate with the enemy in raids and invasions. 8. To harass loyal men and destroy their property when so ordered to do. 9. To assassinate officers of the government when so directed to do. 10. To establish a Northwestern Confederacy.

The above statements are compiled from the reports of the Hon. J. Holt, Judge Advocate General, to Secretary Stanton on “Secret Societies,” and other State papers. Unusual space has been given to this question because it has been asked repeatedly, and our attention is called to the fact that it is not treated in the popular cyclopedias and histories.

CHIEF CITIES OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.

Rushville, Ill.

What is the population of each of the principal cities of France?

James P. Clarke.

Answer.—The population of each of the principal cities of France and England in 1881 is given in the “Statesman’s Year Book” as in the table below:

Paris	2,269,023	London	[12]4,764,312
Lyons	376,613	Glasgow	[13]647,095
Marseilles	360,099	Liverpool	552,425
Bordeaux	221,305	Dublin	[14]418,152
Lille	178,144	Birmingham	400,757
Toulouse	140,289	Manchester	393,676
Nantes	124,319	Leeds	309,126
St. Etienne	123,813	Sheffield	284,410
Rouen	105,906	Edinburgh	236,002
Le Havre	105,867	Bristol	206,503
Rheims	93,823	Bradford	180,459
Roubaix	91,757	Salford	176,223
Amiens	74,170	Wolverhampton	164,303
Nancy	73,255	Hull	161,519
Toulon	70,103	Oldham	152,511
Angers	68,041	Newcastle-on-Tyne	145,228
Nice	66,279	Dundee	140,239
Brest	66,110	Brighton	128,407
Limoges	63,765	Portsmouth	127,953
Nimes	63,552